(a) The Chief Building Official and/or City Administrator shall develop and adopt a plan and fee schedule for code inspections of any property subject to the provisions of the Codes adopted by the City of Maumee in Chapter 1315 of the Maumee Codified Ordinances including the Ohio Building Code, Chapter 1317 National Electrical Code, Chapter 1319 Ohio Plumbing Code, Chapter 1321 City of Maumee Residential Code, and Chapter 1323 BOCA National Property Maintenance Code when said inspections are necessary, required, or warranted. These provisions shall not apply when there is an emergency, or a situation that endangers the safety of the owner, occupant or general public. These provisions shall not apply when the inspection is related to a permit inspection or other required inspection by other Maumee or State code provisions. Such plan for inspection shall include a provision which will give owners or occupants of the subject premises a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours' notice prior to an inspection, however, the twenty-four (24)-hour notice may be waived by the owner or occupant and shall include the procedure found hereinafter, if after being notified of the right to refuse entry, the owner, occupant, or agent does not consent to the proposed inspection. Non-emergency inspections shall be scheduled or conducted during daylight hours.
(b) The Chief Building Official and/or City Administrator or their employees, subcontractors or designees may make inspections in response to a complaint that an alleged violation of the provisions of this code or of rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto has been committed; when the code inspector has valid reason to believe that a violation of the provisions of the code or any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto exists; or where other good cause exists for an inspection which may include the passage of time. At times of non-emergency inspections, the owner, occupant, or agent shall be notified of the right to refuse entry. No criminal penalty, or any penalty or fine under this chapter shall attach, solely by reason of the owner's, occupant's or agent's refusal to consent to an inspection without a warrant. If the owner, occupant, or agent thereof does not consent to the proposed inspection, the Chief Building Official and/or City Administrator or their employees, subcontractors or designees shall appear before any judge, magistrate or acting judge of a court of competent jurisdiction or before an administrative hearing officer and seek an administrative search warrant to allow an inspection. The property owner and /or occupant shall be granted an opportunity for precompliance review of the warrant request as required by law. Any such application shall be made within thirty (30) calendar days after the non-consent to the entry or inspection. The application for the warrant shall specify the basis upon which the warrant is being sought and shall include a statement that the inspection will be limited to a determination whether there are violations of the code provisions identified in this chapter. The application for administrative warrant shall include any of the following factors, upon which the court may consider and deem pertinent in its decision as to whether a warrant shall be issued:
(1) Eyewitness account of violation;
(2) Citizen complaints;
(3) Tenant complaints;
(4) Plain view violations;
(5) Violations apparent from city records;
(6) Property deterioration;
(7) Age of property;
(8) Nature of alleged violation;
(9) Condition of similar properties in the area;
(10) Documented violations on similar properties in the area;
(11) Passage of time since last inspection;
(12) Previous violations on the property.
(c) If a warrant is issued, no owner, occupant, or agent thereof shall fail or neglect, upon presentation of a warrant, to properly permit entry therein for the purpose of conducting an inspection and examination pursuant to this section and consistent with the terms of the warrant. If the court declines to issue a warrant, or if no warrant is sought, the inspection shall still take place, but the scope thereof shall be limited to such areas as are in plain view. A limited-scope inspection conducted pursuant to this subsection shall not preclude the imposition of administrative fees, civil citations or other criminal penalties.
(d) If upon inspection, a structure, building or dwelling is found in violation of this Code, the Chief Building Official and/or City Administrator or their employees, subcontractors or designees shall issue to the owner of said structure, building or dwelling or their authorized agent a list of noted violations to be known as a "notice of violation." The owner or their authorized agent and/or the occupant(s), as appropriate, shall have thirty (30) days from the issuance of a notice of violation to correct such noted violations as have been noted or to take the matter to the housing appeals official. If after thirty (30) days from the issuance of a notice of violation, the owner has not corrected the violation, appropriate charges may be filed, or other administrative penalties may be assessed. If, after thirty (30) days from the issuance of a notice of violation, such noted violations of this Code have been begun in good faith, nearly corrected or partially corrected and not appealed the Chief Building Official and/or City Administrator or their employees, subcontractors or designees shall issue an "order to comply." This order to comply shall list the violations initially found and not begun in good faith, nearly corrected or corrected, as evidenced by sufficient documentation, in the notice of violation. The owner or their authorized agent shall have fifteen (15) days from the issuance of an order to comply to correct such violations. If, after fifteen (15) days from the issuance of an order to comply, such violations are not corrected, the Chief Building Official and/or City Administrator or their employees, subcontractors or designees or their authorized agent may institute appropriate civil and/or criminal proceedings or file appropriate charges against the owner.
(e) The service department shall be responsible for keeping a written record of the findings of all inspections. These records shall be available to the public at cost upon request pursuant to the Maumee Public Records Policy.
(f) Information not related to the enforcement of code provisions which may be discovered in the course of an inspection shall be considered privileged. Such information shall not be made public without a proper public records request. If any information pertaining to criminal activity is discovered pursuant to a code inspection, such information is not privileged or confidential.
(g) All records pertaining to the identification of a complaint shall be kept separate from the public record of inspection and notice of violation in regard to the structure. All other information regarding notices of violations pertaining to any premises shall be public record and available upon request.
(h) The Chief Building Official and/or City Administrator or their employees, subcontractors or designees shall not be required to accept or act upon anonymous complaints. If the code enforcement office, upon inspection, finds any complaint to be malicious or made in bad faith, they may assess the complainant an inspection fee.
(i) An owner, occupant or person having care of property where an inspection has been scheduled shall be assessed a fee established if the inspection is missed or not cancelled at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the scheduled inspection.
(Ord. 016-2023. Passed 7-10-23.)