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Schiavoni Bill Protects Blighted-Property Cleanup
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Legislation that would make it easier for citizens to clean up blighted properties was approved unanimously, 30-0, by the Ohio Senate and now moves onto the state House of Representatives for further hearings.
Substitute Senate Bill 109, which was approved by the Senate last week, updates Ohio’s criminal trespassing laws to exclude persons who enter abandoned or blighted property for the purpose of remediation from being charged with trespassing.
“Members of community groups in the Mahoning Valley expressed concerns about the possibility of being charged with trespassing when cleaning up blighted land around the city,” said state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, the bill’s sponsor. “That law just didn’t make sense to me, and obviously with the bipartisan support the bill received it didn’t make sense to anyone else either.”
Schiavoni has been working on this legislation since its introduction last April. The bill that passed the Senate this week was an updated version of the original bill. “During the committee process we made some changes that really strengthened the bill,” he added. “This piece of legislation will help clean up our communities while at the same time respecting the rights of landowners.”
Some of the notable changes include:
- Describing what type of work may be done on “blighted parcels” and requires trespassers to confirm the land is abandoned before entering onto the property. It also states that the person remediating the property is not entitled to reimbursement for any cost of the remediation, unless there is a prior agreement.
- Protecting land owners from being civilly liable by upholding the general rules governing liability to trespassers.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.