LIBERTY — Dozens of residents showed up at Monday’s Liberty Board of Trustees meeting to seek updates on the township’s plan for cleaning up properties repeatedly described as being in “deplorable” condition.

The topic of zoning enforcement has been discussed in meetings, during public comment, for more than a month. Trustee Arnie Clebone, at a meeting Sept. 29, requested that the the board increase the staffing level of the zoning office from one to two people, and enact a revised maintenance resolution to replace the International Maintenance Code (IMC) that was adopted in 2008.

“I also put a paper together with some ideas of what we could do,” Clebone said in reference to the board working together on a plan. “I think at the time, Mr. Stanley wasn’t here. He was absent from the meeting so I understand why we have not sent a letter yet. But I’m hoping that this board can get together and come up with an acceptable letter that we can send.”

Clebone’s response came after Will Adams, a resident of Norwick Drive, told the board that the condition of a property located at 58 Norwick Drive has gotten worse over the years.

“Recently the township came and removed the junk from his driveway, which looks much better,” Adams said. “The thing is, there is junk on the other side of this house that wasn’t touched, and there are other issues with this property that need to be addressed.”

Adams further explained that moss growing on the house, chipped paint and other issues should be considered. Other residents also spoke to the board about the same house.

Marcia Gould, who lives on the opposite side of the house Adams spoke about, added “Norwick Drive is a disaster.” She continued, “It’s unbelievable, that property. I saw you cleaned it out, but now today, it’s getting back to the end.”

After hearing more residents speak, trustee Devon Stanley spoke about the legality of fining homeowners for zoning violations.

“There are a lot of things that are at play. But with the chronic violator, we get them to clean up. Then six months later, you see a little bit of the junk come back. And eight months later, you’ll see a stack of junk. Nine months later there’s a problem again, they get cited again. They end up either cleaning it up, or in this case for your neighbor, force us to clean it up,” Stanley said.

“I have no problem, nor does Mr. Cizmar, with taking a look at what zoning provisions are out there in the atmosphere of other jurisdictions that could be used to assist. With regard to chronic violators, we have trained essentially one or two of them to realize that going to court is a process in itself. So, they try to clean that up. We have to work with the homeowner, unfortunately. This is not one who I think the court system motivates.”

Zoning inspector Jim Rodway explained that the man living in the home on Norwick does not pay taxes on the house, his family does. “He lives on his Social Security disability. We’ve had him in court. We even used the sheriff, when he had his environmental office, to take him to court. And it was deemed he had no ability to pay a fine. The courts won’t fine him.”

“God willing this effort will help do one of two things,” Stanley said. “One, help the family realize he’s destroyed the property and causes chaos amongst his neighbors. And two, allow us to takeover and do things we might be able to preemptively amplify.”

Rodway said the two houses that are frequently brought up at meetings, 58 Norwick and 50 Redfern drives, are “untouchable because one guy is dead, and the other is in foreclosure.”

“We shouldn’t have to wait until the guy is dead,” Clebone said. “I love working with this board and we have accomplished a lot. But it’s going to be an issue if we keep letting homes deteriorate. I’m tired of hearing what we can’t do. I want to know what we can do.”

After discussing the zoning-related issues, the board welcomed Ashtabula County Auditor David Thomas, who introduced himself as a candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives. Thomas, a Republican, will be running for the new 65th district, following the Ohio Redistricting Commission’s changes to the state district map.

“The new 65th district goes from about four-fifths of Ashtabula County to the eastern side of Trumbull County,” Thomas said. “So I’ve been traveling around to local entities just saying ‘hi.'” As fiscal officer for Austinburg Township before being a county auditor since 2018, Thomas said he relates well to townships.

Thomas will be running against Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, in the upcoming March primary election.

dnewman@tribtoday.com