Proposed rules for homes that spark repeated calls to police make landlords accountable, and give them a chance to fix the problem and avoid a fine, Wiscasset Police Chief Jeff Lange said.

“It gives the owner an out,” Lange told the Ordinance Review Committee Monday night. He used a disorderly house ordinance as Paris police chief; it works, and it’s a matter of public safety, he said. “This places responsibility on the owners on who they rent their homes to, to deal with problems we’ve had (with) people just being lousy neighbors,” with vicious dogs, loud parties and drug use and possible sales, he said.

An owner’s removal of a tenant would depend on how the lease is written, Lange said in response to a question from the committee. ORC member Jason Putnam said when he owned rental property, he rented it month to month. Putnam told Lange the only comments he’d been hearing from residents were that the ordinance could lead some neighbors to act as a group, like a witch hunt, singling out a tenant by calling police on them.

“It’s not a witch hunt. (These are) homes that are constant threats to the neighborhood,” Lange said. “It’s a public safety issue.”

According to a draft the committee reviewed, owners of a dwelling with five or fewer units would get an incident report if police visit twice in 30 days, and for three visits in 30 days, selectmen would consider the disorderly house designation; for a dwelling of six to 10 units, three visits would trigger the incident report and four would risk the designation; and an 11-unit dwelling would take four visits for the incident report and five to risk the designation. 

Selectmen would hold a hearing with the owner; if selectmen find the house is disorderly, they could either refer the matter to the town attorney or reach a consent agreement with the owner. That option applies if the owner is making “a reasonable effort ... to abate the prohibitive conduct,” the draft states.

Selectmen would establish the fines to go with the ordinance, ORC members said.

The ORC got Lange’s proposal from selectmen. Lange said the board unanimously supported it and wanted the town to vote on it as quickly as possible, out of concern for the many people who showed up to support it. 

ORC members asked Town Planner Ben Averill if the ordinance could be decided in March when a pair of referendum votes were planned. “That would be tight,” Averill said about getting the ordinance through its steps in time for a March vote, but he added the date had not been set.

The ORC planned to revisit the proposed rules Feb. 13. Chairman Karl Olson said a vote may come that night to go with the changes already discussed and send it back to selectmen. The ORC made format changes to match the town’s other ordinances.

Also Monday night, the committee took up changes the Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission is seeking for the ordinance that created it in 2015. Among the proposed changes, Averill said the commission wants to make sure the property owner or an authorized agent for the owner takes part when the panel reviews a request for a certificate of appropriateness. The commission proposed requiring a notarized letter showing the owner authorized the agent.

The ORC left the letter in but directed Averill to strike the notarized part. “It’s not like anybody’s sneaking around your house fixing it up for you,” Putnam said. The commission was still working on other changes to propose, Averill said.

The time and place for the ORC’s Feb. 13 meeting are not set yet, Averill said.