Central Ohio Landlord Policy Updates – Week of May 11, 2026

This is the weekly Central Ohio landlord policy update. Five featured items get the full treatment below, followed by a quick-hits section covering the rest of the municipal activity worth tracking this week. Most of this activity happens in rooms landlords do not have time to sit in, and it is worth knowing about before it changes how you operate your properties.

 

Grandview Heights: Emergency Fire Prevention Code Amendments

Status: Passed on emergency basis (in effect now) — No grace period. Compliance is expected immediately.

Grandview Heights City Council approved an ordinance amending the city’s Fire Prevention Code on an emergency basis at the May 11, 2026 council meeting. Emergency adoption is the key detail. A standard Ohio municipal ordinance takes effect 30 days after passage. An emergency ordinance is enforceable the moment the gavel drops.

For any landlord with property in Grandview Heights, this is a this-week issue. The city has high rental density for its size, including older multi-family housing concentrated north of Fifth Avenue and around the Grandview Yard. Anything the amended code requires on existing properties (alarm placement, exit configurations, fire-resistive separations between attached units, fire-rated doors and walls) is enforceable on day one. Pre-existing setups that complied with the prior code are not automatically grandfathered if the new code creates a new requirement.

If you manage units in Grandview Heights, this is the kind of change that is easy to miss and expensive to catch up on. Pull the amendment text now and walk it against the existing fire-safety setup. The defensible move is to schedule fixes before the next inspection rather than after a citation.

Source: Grandview Heights May 11, 2026 Fire Prevention Code Amendment Ordinance

 

Hilliard: Emergency Ordinance Package Effective May 13

Status: Passed on emergency basis (in effect now) — Effective May 13, with no buffer between adoption and enforceability.

Hilliard City Council adopted a package of ordinances at its May 11, 2026 meeting under emergency language, including updates to the codified ordinances. The same meeting passed Ordinance 09-2026 (arterial improvements for Linworth, Snouffer, and Godown) and Ordinance 10-2026 (Service and Engineering Building concrete replacement), both with an effective date of May 13.

Hilliard is among the higher-density rental municipalities in Central Ohio, and codified-ordinance refreshes are the easiest type of municipal action to under-read. Agenda titles describe the action (“ordinance updates”) without describing the substance. The risk is that a refresh re-numbers, re-scopes, or quietly modifies a provision that a landlord relies on in a lease or operating procedure.

The practical step is to pull the actual ordinance text rather than assume the refresh leaves rental operations untouched. If you have multiple units in Hilliard, this is the kind of change that is easy to miss and expensive to catch up on later. The emergency designation tells you the city believed the situation was urgent enough to waive the waiting period. Treat it that way.

Source: Hilliard City Council May 11, 2026 Meeting Information

 

Groveport: Permit Fee Structure Changes

Status: Just passed (in effect now) — Two fee changes on one ordinance. Effective immediately.

Groveport City Council passed Ordinance 2026-019 on May 11, 2026. The ordinance does two distinct things on the same bill. It rescinds the double permit fee that previously applied to work commenced without necessary permits, and it modifies the reinspection fee.

The rescinded double-fee penalty is the headline. Vendors occasionally start work before a permit lands, especially on smaller maintenance jobs where the contractor pulls the permit themselves. The old penalty doubled the cost when that happened. The fee structure for those situations is now the standard single fee, which reduces exposure but does not change the underlying expectation that work be properly permitted.

The reinspection fee change is the one to verify before scheduling the next inspection. Reinspections are billed every time an inspector returns after a failed first visit, and the per-visit rate has changed. The current schedule is published on the Groveport Applications and Fees page, and the underlying code provisions live in Chapter 1321 of the codified ordinances. The next vendor estimate or permit application is the right moment to confirm the new numbers.

Source: Groveport City Council Ordinance 2026-019

 

Delaware: Property Maintenance Code Overhaul

Status: Second reading completed (one step from final vote) — One more reading and a council vote remain before adoption.

Delaware City Council held a public hearing for Ordinance No. 26-23 and conducted its second reading at the May 11, 2026 meeting. The ordinance does two things at once. It amends Delaware’s adopted version of the International Property Maintenance Code, and it creates a new Exterior Property Maintenance Code that operates as a separate, standalone set of enforcement standards for the outside of buildings and properties.

Property maintenance codes are the most common code-enforcement lever applied to rental property owners. Routine notices about chipped paint, fence condition, accessory structures, or yard upkeep almost always trace back to an IPMC citation. The Delaware change matters because splitting the exterior rules into their own code means citations for siding, paint, fences, accessory structures, and yard upkeep no longer need to invoke the broader IPMC. The enforcement path becomes shorter and more direct.

The stage of the process is the opportunity. A second-reading item with a public hearing is usually within one meeting of a vote, which means the language is close to locked. If you own property in Delaware, pull the ordinance text now and compare it against current property condition before the third reading. Comments submitted after final adoption carry weight only on the next amendment cycle, which is rarely fast.

Source: Delaware City Council Ordinance 26-23 Hearing Packet

 

Powell: Zoning Code Rewrite and Fee Schedule

Status: Under discussion (no vote scheduled) — Comment window is open before language is locked.

Powell’s Planning Department presented a comprehensive rewrite of the Planning and Zoning Code at the May 12, 2026 meeting and recommended fee schedule updates that align with the new procedures. Powell has been working with consultant ZoneCo on a multi-year zoning modernization expected to continue through mid-2026, and the May 12 packet is the clearest look so far at how the substantive rules and the cost structure will land together.

Zoning rewrites are the most consequential long-term change any municipality can put through. They re-define what a property is permitted to do, what new development looks like, and what process applies when an owner wants to change something on the property. The fact that Powell is signaling that the fee schedule will move at the same time as the substantive zoning rules means owners doing development, additions, change-of-use, or accessory structures will see both the rules and the cost-to-permit change in the same cycle.

This is the right window to comment. Public input received before a vote is scheduled has more leverage than input submitted after the language is locked. The Powell Planning and Zoning Commission is the intake point for public comment, and the current 2026 Fee Schedule is the baseline that the new structure will replace. After language is locked and adopted, amendments become much harder to obtain.

Source: Powell Planning Department May 12, 2026 Zoning Code Rewrite Packet

 

 

Also On the Radar This Week

Thirteen additional items from across Central Ohio worth knowing about, organized by status. Not every item demands action this week, but each is tracking toward something that will.

• Buckeye Lake, OH [Under discussion (no vote scheduled)] — Buckeye Lake held a public hearing on May 11 on newly proposed zoning code revisions. The comment window is open for owners with Buckeye Lake rentals who want to weigh in before the language gets finalized. [Source: Hearing Agenda]
• Plain City, OH [Second reading completed (one step from final vote)] — Plain City Village Council completed a second reading of Ordinance 16-2026 on May 11, which changes the procedures for considering Planning and Zoning Code amendments. It is procedural, but it sets the rules for every future zoning amendment in the village. [Source: Council Agenda]
• Grandview Heights, OH [Just passed] — Separate from the Fire Prevention Code item above, Grandview Heights Council also passed amendments to publication requirements in the Codified Ordinances on May 11. This affects how official notices, including hearings on properties, are disseminated to property owners. [Source: Ordinance]
• Sunbury, OH [Just passed] — Sunbury Village Council authorized the City Manager to permit certain activities per the codified ordinance on May 6, potentially streamlining some permits that previously required council-level approval. [Source: Agenda Packet]
• Whitehall, OH [Just passed] — Whitehall City Council adopted replacement pages for the codified ordinances on May 6. Largely a housekeeping refresh, but worth confirming that any operational rules referenced in the code still read as expected. [Source: Agenda]
• Powell, OH [Under discussion (no vote scheduled)] — Separate from the zoning rewrite above, Powell Council discussed the potential abolition of a property tax ballot measure on May 6. The backdrop is a statewide initiative to eliminate all Ohio property taxes that is currently collecting signatures for the November 2026 ballot (roughly 305,000 of 413,488 signatures as of late April). [Source: Meeting Record]
• Delaware, OH [Under discussion (no vote scheduled)] — Delaware Council held a public hearing on Ord 26-23 as a companion record to the second-reading item already featured above. Same ordinance, different agenda entry. [Source: Hearing Packet]
• Baltimore, OH [Under discussion (no vote scheduled)] — Baltimore Council held a public hearing on April 27 regarding updates to the building permit and inspection fee schedule. The hearing surfaced in this week’s data; landlords with Baltimore property should track the next council step. [Source: Council Minutes]
• Franklin, OH [Under discussion (no vote scheduled)] — Franklin Council held a public hearing on April 20 for Ordinance 2026-03 amending Chapter 1313 (Building Permit and Inspection Fees). The hearing surfaced in this week’s data; relevant for owners running active or planned permit work in Franklin. [Source: Meeting Minutes]
• Westerville, OH [Introduced, public hearings pending] — Westerville Council introduced several temporary ordinances for first reading on April 21. The first reading surfaced in this week’s data; property managers should track the second-reading agenda for substance. [Source: Meeting Minutes]
• Powell, OH [Recommended for approval (awaiting Council vote)] — A Powell committee motioned on April 21 to send multiple ordinances to Council. The committee action surfaced in this week’s data; the Council vote is the next step to watch. [Source: Committee Minutes]
• Lancaster, OH [Introduced, public hearings pending] — Lancaster City Council held a first reading on April 20 of Temporary Ordinances 9-26 and 10-26. The first reading surfaced in this week’s data; owners with Lancaster property should track the next reading. [Source: Meeting Minutes]
• Baltimore, OH [Recommended for approval (awaiting Council vote)] — Baltimore Service Committee voted 3-0 on April 13 to send Ordinances 2026-11, 2026-12, and 2026-14 to Council. The committee action surfaced in this week’s data; the Council vote is the next step to watch. [Source: Service Committee Minutes]

 

What to Do With This Information

The landlords who get caught by municipal changes are usually the ones who find out on a violation notice. The ones who stay ahead of them treat Central Ohio policy tracking like an operating function: a recurring calendar item, not a reactive scramble. This week, the items that demand immediate attention are Grandview Heights (emergency fire code effective now), Hilliard (emergency package effective May 13), and Groveport (permit and reinspection fee changes effective now). The Delaware and Powell items are opportunities, not emergencies; the comment window is the time to influence language that will otherwise be written without rental operator input.

If this kind of tracking is not something you have time for, that is exactly the problem a full-service property manager handles alongside leasing, maintenance, and compliance. Reach out for a consultation or keep this weekly update in your reading rotation. Either way, the municipal activity is not slowing down.