An investigation by The Ohio State University student publication "The Lantern" found that housing code violations for off-campus properties have soared over the past three years.
"A lot of residents had problems, that you might expect, such as, like mold, infestations for, like, cockroaches and things like that. Maybe some, like, construction complaints,” said Nathan Mader, an Ohio State senior and author of the article.
Mader wrote that 373 violations were recorded over the first nine months of 2023. That was about the same number of violations that had been recorded from 2013 to 2021.
In his research, Mader examined zip codes 43201 and 43202, which expanded his analysis beyond the immediate off-campus properties. The area includes Fifth Avenue to the south, Northwood Park to the north, University Village on Olentangy River Road to the west, and North Fourth Street to the east.
Mader spoke to Anthony Celebrezze, Deputy Director for Columbus Building and Zoning Services, about the high number of code violations. Celebrezze explained several reasons could be responsible. He pointed to a more proactive philosophy taken by code enforcement after the office switched city departments, the return of students and full staffing post COVID-19 and new University District initiatives.
“I think the timeline that he gave me for things like students coming back to the University District, switching city departments for code enforcement,” said Mader. “I think that lined up really well with where we saw these big jumps and a lot of the, you know, a lot of those factors, just made sense with the data.”
Mader said he was unsuccessful contacting property owners, but did not receive any negative feedback about the story. He did speak with the University District.
“They assured me that safety was their number one concern, that they take these issues very seriously,” said Mader. “And that they, you know, are trying to working on a solution with their residents having their cockroach infestation."
Mader says it is best for students living off-campus to first document their concerns if they see safety and health issues where they live.
"There's been a lot of, work from the city, trying to alleviate the problems,” said Mader. “They're having community roundtables, trying to promote collaboration with Ohio State, the city property owners to, you know, discuss these issues and work towards solutions."
Ohio State also offers student legal services for leasing issues and landlord troubles.
