The Blytheville City Council's Code Enforcement Committee has scheduled a public hearing for 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, in the Municipal Courtroom to discuss a proposed ordinance that puts several requirements on rental property owners.
Councilman John Musgraves, who chairs the committee, said both tenants and landlords are encouraged to attend.
"We want both sides to be treated fairly and equally," Musgraves said. "We don't want to do this half-cocked."
He added the city can make modifications to the proposed ordinance and all existing rental properties would be grandfathered in.
Newly elected, soon-to-be Blytheville City Councilman R.L. Jones called for the public hearing earlier this week, saying, "I will not vote for a law that the public knows nothing about." Jones said the church he pastors owns rental property.
Musgraves defended the measure on Wednesday morning.
He indicated the proposed ordinance targets slumlords.
Musgraves said there are a lot of good landlords who wouldn't be affected by the proposal.
"This is going to make the slumlords step up to do what the great landlords are doing," Musgraves said.
He added there are some Blytheville tenants living in inadequate housing.
The proposed ordinance would require landlords to furnish heat to the occupants during a six-month period from November through April and have tightly fitting screens on outside openings such as doors and windows. They would also be held responsible for overgrown yards that exceed what's allowable by code.
The proposal also says, if the owner makes modifications, he or she must abide by the code unless code enforcement finds a special reason for the strict letter of the code to be impractical and the project doesn't lessen health, life and fire safety requirements.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com