OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Housing Committee Update on Lead Safe Ordinance and Vacant Property Registration – May 28, 2026

City Council — Thursday, May 28, 2026
BodyToledo, Ohio
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, May 28, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:18:49
Transcript — Verbatim
2:43

I call to order the committee meeting of the housing community development and public health committee for Thursday.

2:54

May twenty eighth, thank you.

2:55

Twenty twenty-six.

2:57

Clerk, please call the roll.

2:59

Jones here.

3:00

Gaddis.

3:01

Kramer here.

3:03

Martinez.

3:04

McPherson.

3:06

Melden.

3:07

Williams here.

3:09

For present.

3:10

Okay.

3:11

So we are here to get an update on our lead safe ordinance, and I believe that we're talking about rental registry as well.

3:20

Get an update of what that's going, how that's going and vacant properties.

3:24

So we have Jim Monar and Monica Smith.

3:27

Also keep in mind we have a five o'clock, so we won't take that much time, but just keep that deadline in mind.

3:34

All right, and then I'll hand it over to you all.

3:38

Good afternoon, Council.

3:40

Thank you so much for having me this afternoon.

3:42

I am Monica Smith, the lead safe coordinator, and I'm going to provide you with a lead safe ordinance update.

3:51

So first I want to start with a program overview.

3:54

Uh the lead ordinance states that if you are a property owner of a residential rental unit, one to four units built prior to nineteen seventy-eight, you are required to obtain a lead safe certificate.

4:46

So the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm going to provide you with an overview of phase one.

4:52

Phase one, it consists of 17 census tracks.

4:57

There are an estimated 4,800 rental properties in phase one.

4:57

The deadline date, which recently passed, was December 31st of 2025 for phase one.

5:09

There are currently 954 active certificates in phase one.

5:14

We sent out reminder letters approximately six months prior to that deadline date.

5:20

We sent out a total of 400, 4,000, excuse me, 4,465 reminder letters.

5:27

And then three months after that deadline date, we sent out 3,736 notice of violation letters for those owners who had not yet complied.

5:41

Next, phase two overview.

5:44

In phase two, there are 12 census tracts.

5:48

That deadline date is approaching.

5:50

It is June 30 of 2026.

5:53

There are an estimated 2,800 rental units in phase two.

5:59

We currently have 93 active certificate certificates in that phase.

6:05

We sent out 2,634 reminder letters to property owners for phase two.

6:15

Next up, we have phase three.

6:17

We're currently in phase three.

6:20

There are 12 census tracks in phase three.

6:23

The deadline date is December 31st of 2026.

6:28

There are 133 active certificates in phase three, an estimated 3,058 rental units.

6:37

We sent out 2,958 reminder letters.

6:42

Those letters should actually be reaching their destination over the next couple days.

6:53

And here I'm going to give you an overview of all of the phases.

6:58

So in total, there are 120 census tracks.

7:03

That is there's eight compliance deadlines, with the last compliance deadline being June 30 of 2029.

7:14

The compliance deadlines are in six months increments, so it's always going to be June 30 or December 31st.

7:22

We sent out a total of 10,057 reminder letters, a total of 3,736 notice of violation letters, and currently we have 4,124 active lead safe certificates.

8:06

As far as the number, if I were to refer back to phase one, I think I mentioned that there were 957 active certificates, while there are approximately 4,800 rental properties in that area.

8:27

So the two things I want you to keep in mind is that over the past couple months, approximately 1,500 lead-safe certificates expired, meaning that those property owners had complied five years ago, but their expiration date had approached, and so now they need to reapply.

8:44

That's the first thing to consider.

8:46

Second thing I want you to consider is that we were in the courts over the course of two and a half, three years.

8:54

And so I think what that did is it created some confusion amongst property owners as to whether or not the lead ordinance is still in existence, whether or not they need to comply, when are those deadline dates, and how do they go about doing that?

9:11

And so that's one of the things that we have been working diligently on is making sure that we are communicating with property owners, with tenants, with the inspectors regularly so that they have a better understanding of the program, of what the requirements are and of their compliance date.

9:31

That way they know that okay, this this is what I need to do by such and such date.

9:29

Next, I'm gonna talk to you a little about the importance of quality control and inspector oversight.

9:48

So, being that I mentioned the back and forth with the court and and how for some people it caused some confusion.

9:56

One of the things we want to do is make sure that we are maintaining integrity as well as credibility with this program.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Lead Safety███████████████████████████████31%
Zoning and Planning███████████████████████23%
Affordable Housing███████7%
Technology and Innovation███████7%
Procedural██████6%
Vacant Property Registration██████6%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████6%
Environmental Protection█████5%
Public Engagement████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Housing, Community Development, and Public Health Committee Meeting – May 28, 2026

The committee met to receive updates on the city's Lead Safe Ordinance and new Vacant Property Registration program. Presentations were delivered by Monica Smith (Lead Safe Coordinator) and Jim Molnar (Code Compliance Commissioner). No formal votes were taken; the session was informational.

Discussion Items

Lead Safe Ordinance Update (Monica Smith)

  • Phase 1 (deadline Dec 31, 2025 – 17 census tracts, ~4,800 rental units): 954 active certificates; 4,465 reminder letters sent; 3,736 notice of violation letters sent.
  • Phase 2 (deadline June 30, 2026 – 12 census tracts, ~2,800 units): 93 active certificates; 2,634 reminder letters sent.
  • Phase 3 (deadline Dec 31, 2026 – 12 census tracts, ~3,058 units): 133 active certificates; 2,958 reminder letters in transit.
  • Citywide totals (120 census tracts, 8 compliance deadlines through June 30, 2029): 10,057 reminder letters, 3,736 notice of violation letters, 4,124 active certificates. Approximately 1,500 certificates had expired, requiring reapplication. Confusion from a 2.5–3 year court challenge was noted.
  • Quality control: city conducts QA reviews and site visits; found inaccuracies in inspector reporting. Ongoing communication with inspectors.
  • Enforcement: phased approach – reminder letter (6 months before deadline), notice of violation (45 days to cure), then referral to Housing Court. First 200 Phase 1 referrals expected around June 18, 2026.
  • Technology: interactive online map for public to check lead-safe status; CityWorks portal under development for streamlined applications.
  • Outreach (2024–2025): 231 individuals trained, 8 outreach events reaching 1,350 people, school visits, marketing campaign (billboards, radio, print, social media). Future outreach will be handled by the Toledo Lead Resource Center.
  • Challenges: public awareness, inspector capacity (69 local inspectors), data system limitations, funding constraints.
  • Ms. Smith emphasized the program's focus on preventing lead poisoning in children, stating "Lead poisoning is 100% preventable but its effects last a lifetime."

Vacant Property Registration Update (Jim Molnar)

  • Ordinance strengthened December 2025; enforcement launched February 17, 2026.
  • 600 courtesy notices sent to properties identified as vacant (via inspection, USPS vacancy, no water service).
  • Registrations rose from 55 to 247 (349% increase).
  • 25 fines of $250 issued to non-compliant owners; another 100–200 fines expected shortly.
  • Technology: workflow system and public-facing registration portal (in development for full online payment). Integration with Ptolemy software for data tracking.
  • Program complements rental registration and lead-safe efforts – referred to as "the three sisters" for neighborhood stability.
  • Mr. Molnar concluded with an original poem reinforcing the message to register vacant properties.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes or resolutions were adopted.
  • Staff will begin referring Phase 1 non-compliant property owners to Housing Court around June 18, 2026.
  • Council members expressed support for continued funding of Ptolemy software and suggested exploring county partnership to share costs.
  • Chair requested additional metrics from both programs.
  • Councilwoman McPherson noted ongoing enforcement on Chase Street, citing 174 inspections and 38 code cases over five years.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were offered.

Meeting Transcript

I call to order the committee meeting of the housing community development and public health committee for Thursday. May twenty eighth, thank you. Twenty twenty-six. Clerk, please call the roll. Jones here. Gaddis. Kramer here. Martinez. McPherson. Melden. Williams here. For present. Okay. So we are here to get an update on our lead safe ordinance, and I believe that we're talking about rental registry as well. Get an update of what that's going, how that's going and vacant properties. So we have Jim Monar and Monica Smith. Also keep in mind we have a five o'clock, so we won't take that much time, but just keep that deadline in mind. All right, and then I'll hand it over to you all. Good afternoon, Council. Thank you so much for having me this afternoon. I am Monica Smith, the lead safe coordinator, and I'm going to provide you with a lead safe ordinance update. So first I want to start with a program overview. Uh the lead ordinance states that if you are a property owner of a residential rental unit, one to four units built prior to nineteen seventy-eight, you are required to obtain a lead safe certificate. So the first thing I'm gonna do is I'm going to provide you with an overview of phase one. Phase one, it consists of 17 census tracks. There are an estimated 4,800 rental properties in phase one. The deadline date, which recently passed, was December 31st of 2025 for phase one. There are currently 954 active certificates in phase one. We sent out reminder letters approximately six months prior to that deadline date. We sent out a total of 400, 4,000, excuse me, 4,465 reminder letters. And then three months after that deadline date, we sent out 3,736 notice of violation letters for those owners who had not yet complied. Next, phase two overview. In phase two, there are 12 census tracts. That deadline date is approaching. It is June 30 of 2026. There are an estimated 2,800 rental units in phase two. We currently have 93 active certificate certificates in that phase. We sent out 2,634 reminder letters to property owners for phase two. Next up, we have phase three. We're currently in phase three. There are 12 census tracks in phase three. The deadline date is December 31st of 2026. There are 133 active certificates in phase three, an estimated 3,058 rental units. We sent out 2,958 reminder letters. Those letters should actually be reaching their destination over the next couple days. And here I'm going to give you an overview of all of the phases. So in total, there are 120 census tracks. That is there's eight compliance deadlines, with the last compliance deadline being June 30 of 2029. The compliance deadlines are in six months increments, so it's always going to be June 30 or December 31st. We sent out a total of 10,057 reminder letters, a total of 3,736 notice of violation letters, and currently we have 4,124 active lead safe certificates.

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