LIME CITY – Perrysburg Township is starting to use legal options to get homeowners to take care of their properties.

Notice of violations have been sent to a home on the corner of Caroline Drive and White Road in Perrysburg. The two-unit residence isn’t inhabited and has grass above the knees.

Zoning Inspector J.D. Justus got approval from trustees at their June 19 meeting to declare the property a public nuisance.

He said he has spoken with the neighbors and their concern is for the mice and other junk inside the home.

“The house is in disrepair and the brick on the front is leaning toward the road. There’s nobody living there,” he said. “The neighbors haven’t seen anybody there all summer.”

Justus said he sent a certified letter to who he believes is the owner and it was returned. At that point, the trustees have to declare a nuisance, which was done at the meeting.

The next steps include printing the notice in the paper the following week, giving the owner seven days to respond.

The township can go in a cut the grass and put the cost of the tax duplicate, he said.

The property cannot be sold until the lien is paid.

Justus said they also have received around 25 other zoning complaints, mostly about high grass.

A lot of these lots aren’t owned by local people, and he said he has had success lately in getting ahold of these companies and getting them motivated to take care of the properties.

“It just takes a little bit of time,” he said.

He also is starting action against a former carwash in the 27000 block of Oakmead Drive in the Oakmont subdivision.

“That’s pretty out of control,” he said, and added he sent a certified letter that day to the owner in Birmingham, Alabama, who had purchased the property in January.

The township dealt with the previous owner last year, he said.

“We’ve done this before but I’m following the law to a T to make sure it is done right,” Justus said.

He said he’ll knock on doors and if he can’t get a response that way, he’ll send a violation letter. Often, he is contacted within a couple of days and people often ask for an extension.

If they don’t comply within a couple of days, they get a second notice, and the township can go in a mow and put it on their taxes.

“We try not to do that. We’re not in the lawn mowing business. We don’t want to be. We just want people to take care of their properties and conform to the law,” Justus said.

He said the township wants to work with its residents, not against them.

He said there is no set charge for mowing as every property is different.

He said the township can put liens on the property as well as court action. If found guilty in court, the property owner could be fined up to $500 per day.

“So, we do have options,” he said.

“It’s not easy being a code enforcement official,” said Trustee Bob Mack.

He praised the work Justus has done for the township.

Justus “is straight with people, he is fair with people but also being stern with people,” Mack said. “And that’s a very delicate balance.”

Also at the meeting, trustees:

• Agreed to chip seal Reitz Road from Ohio 199 to Ohio 25 for $62,354.

• Approved a 12-month renewal contract with Avixum, Pinellas Park, Florida, for phone services for $7,588.

• Learned the fire department handled 44 calls and EMS had 202 calls in May. It was the busiest May on record, said fire Chief Tom Brice.

• Set a zoning hearing for a 10-acre property on Simmons Road north of Parliament Place from planned unit development-residential to rural residential district (low density) to allow the construction of a single-family home.