Two ordinances passed by Louisville Metro Council that weaken proactive inspections of rental units for health and safety hazards will soon become law.
Mayor Craig Greenberg said Thursday afternoon that won’t sign the ordinances, which were part of a deal between some council members and Republicans in the state legislature, but won’t veto them either. That means they will quietly pass into law after the veto period ends.
Greenberg acknowledged that council members voted to take an approach to these ordinances that he doesn’t agree with, and said he thought the changes were being made for “unfortunate reasons.” He said Frankfort should let Louisville address its own issues, calling it an issue of local control.
“I do think state government has a lot of issues that the state should be focused on,” Greenberg said. “And then here at the local level, there are a lot of things that we should be able to decide for ourselves.”
One of the ordinances removes the requirement that landlords proactively inspect their properties for lead hazards. The other piece of legislation stops the city’s practice of randomly inspecting 10% of all rental units each year, which had already been delayed.
“There are a lot of old homes in Louisville, and a lot of those homes still have lead paint or other exposure to lead, which is not healthy to individuals, particularly kids,” Greenberg said. “So the more that we can do to get lead out of our homes as renovations are being done, I think that is a positive step.”
He also says state lawmakers should let Louisville address its own problems.
Greenberg previously took the same approach for an ordinance unanimously passed by Metro Council in 2023 that aimed to reduce displacement. He said he was concerned it would hamper his administration’s efforts to build more affordable housing in the city.
Metro Council approved the two ordinances last week after contentious debate. Some council members said they made a deal with Republican leaders in the General Assembly state lawmakers would back off a bill that would gut Louisville’s lead hazard and rental registry ordinances entirely if Louisville got rid of rules seen as onerous to landlords.
That bill, House Bill 173, would make it illegal for any city or county in Kentucky to create a registry of rental properties, essentially nullifying Louisville’s existing protections.
HB 173 was on the agenda for a committee meeting in Frankfort on Tuesday, but it was passed over. The committee chairman, Republican Rep. Patrick Flannery, said, “We think this issue may have been taken care of by Louisville Metro."
Not all Metro Council members were on board with the deal.
Some Democrats said they didn’t agree with the plan to weaken protections against lead exposure, which can have severe, lifelong impacts on a child’s development, but felt that keeping some of the local lead hazard law in place was better than nothing. Others wanted to call state Republicans’ bluff, saying they didn’t think they had the votes in Frankfort.
Metro Council Republicans voted unanimously for both ordinances, which were sponsored by the Republican Caucus Chair, District 19’s Anthony Piagentini.
