Property Maintenance Code

In response to resident concerns, Council adopted the Property Maintenance Code in 2007 which establishes standards for home maintenance as well as provides for enforcement of Code violations. Basically, the Village requires properties to appear neat and uncluttered when viewed from the street, and in no way present a nuisance or health hazard to neighbors or the public. For complete definitions and details, read through the Property Maintenance Code.

Reporting Violations

If you observe a poorly kept house or yard in your neighborhood, contact the Village Administration via email or call 513-531-8675, and they will handle it from there. To be thorough and fair, the Village follows a multi-step process of notification and enforcement that may seem slow.

Notification

First, the property is inspected by Village officials and the condition documented, then they contact the listed property owner, often by certified letter with a return receipt. Sometimes, owners are difficult to track down. The Village relies on records maintained by the Hamilton County Auditor’s Office. In the case of foreclosures, ownership may be nebulous, as ownership is often assumed by out-of-town banks. Once owners are identified, the notification process must be completed before any further action can be taken.

Delivery of a certified letter may take several weeks. If it cannot be delivered and signed for, then the Village takes additional notification steps, including posting a letter noting the violation on the door of the home or publishing a notice of violation in the classified sections of area newspapers.

Follow Up

If none of those measures work, the Village will then step in as soon as it is legally possible to do so and resolve the problem. This may involve cutting grass and weeds, draining stagnant water, removing unsightly objects from yards, or exterminating rodents, but this may not happen for weeks after an initial complaint is made.

Property owners are charged for such actions by the Village and notified that they need to pay for them. If they fail to pay, a lien is placed against the property for the amount of the costs incurred.

Appeals

A property owner who wishes to appeal a decision made under this Code may do so by filing a written application for appeal within the time limit for compliance with the order or 20 days after the decision, notice or order was served, whichever is less. The appeal will be heard by the Property Maintenance Review Board, which consists of three residents appointed by the Mayor who are qualified in property maintenance matters.

Amberley Village Property Maintenance FAQs

The property maintenance code was adopted to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare as it pertains to premises and buildings used for residential or business purposes. The code establishes minimum standards for maintaining property to:

  1. preserve and achieve the presentable appearance of existing structures and premises.
  2. avoid blighting effects of the substandard maintenance of structures and premises and the negative impact on the value of surrounding properties.
  3. eliminates hazardous conditions.
  4. identify the responsibilities of owners, operators and occupants of structures and their premises.

Having and enforcing the code is benefit to residents in a multitude of ways, including:

  • Preserving the higher property values we have all come to expect in Amberley Village
  • Lowering crime rates by keeping items put away and minimizing places to hide
  • Improving the overall aesthetics and curb appeal of homes in the Village
  • Protecting ourselves and our neighbors from public nuisances

Assess your property on a regular basis by asking yourself if you would buy it again in its current condition. What could be changed or improved to make it appeal more to someone else? Initially, you can focus on a few items such as:

  • Is the law being mowed and kept neat on a weekly basis?
  • Is there peeling paint, broken bricks or damaged siding visible?
  • Are trash and recycling bins, sports equipment and toys stored out of sight?
  • Does landscaping need attention? Are there dead or dying trees or bushes?
  • Are house numbers easily seen from the street? Emergency personnel can't reach you if they don't know specifically which home is yours.
  • Are there recreational, inoperable or unlicensed vehicles parked on the property?

Many Village employees are out and about as part of their regular job duties, and most property code violations are reported by them. Sometimes residents will anonymously alert the Village to a violation, and we will follow up with our own visual inspection.

Once it is determined that a violation exists, the Village will attempt to contact the property owner by phone about correcting the violation. If phone contact cannot be made or if it is a second notification, the property owner will be notified in writing through the US mail, or a letter will be delivered by an Amberley Village Police Officer.

Most requests to correct a violation are resolved with a telephone call. It is important to note however, that uncorrected violations or multiple violations in a calendar year could result in a citation to court and/or monetary penalties.

The code is in effect all year. While the weather is not always accommodating to make corrections, the Village works with homeowners and honors reasonable requests. For the most part, weather is the only exception for not making corrections in a timely manner.