City Considering Occupancy Permits For Landlords

The city of Bourbon is considering passing an ordinance that would force landlords to receive an occupancy permit before accepting new tenants.

Mayor Danny Skaggs said there are properties in town that need to be cleaned up and this could be one of the ways of achieving that.

“I think this would go a long way,” Skaggs said. “It would force landlords to clean up. We would actually go in and look at their house.”

Skaggs, the city’s building inspector, along with Bourbon Fire Chief Daniel Whatley, would go through a checklist of the property. They would make sure smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are installed, look at wiring, flooring and all other parts of the structure.

Skaggs said he talked to Sullivan’s building inspector Dan King last year, who “highly recommended” Bourbon put something in place.

Public works employee Mark McEuen said there is “blatant neglect” occurring throughout the city. Skaggs said the ordinance wouldn’t be punitive towards landlords, but would hopefully encourage them to be more proud of their property while attracting better tenants.

Skaggs relayed a story of a landlord who has had several issues with tenants, including the theft of copper wiring. 

“That is what we have got to address so we don’t have this stuff going on,” Skaggs said. “It is the only way we are going to straighten out some of these places.”

Skaggs also acknowledged that Bourbon has “some good landlords here” and that the ordinance can only do so much. 

Police Chief Paul Satterfield said checking on smoke and carbon detectors can be instrumental in saving lives. Satterfield said an incident happened in Cuba where an entire family died because there were no working detectors.

Ward 1 Alderman Dave Lafferty said getting the ordinance in place would give good tenants a way to force fixes that need to be made.

“This would give them an avenue to get something fixed,” Lafferty said. “Some people just get you in there and all they want is money.”