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MANSFIELD — The former Kingsgate Cinema and a large portion of the West Park shopping center are under demolition orders after a city building inspector found them unfit for human habitation.
But one Richland Source reader is more concerned about non-human inhabitants.
“These places are likely infested, so do the property owners carry the burden of exterminating before any demolition is started?” Scott Jeffery asked via our Open Source platform.
Jeffrey went on to express concern that a displaced rodent population could create problems for neighboring businesses and residences.
In response to that question, we spoke to officials from the city of Mansfield and a representative from Richland Public Health. None of them seemed worried about infestation at these sites.
According to Mansfield’s codes, permits and zoning department, there was no evidence of rodents infestation at West Park or the former cinema.
Codes, permits and zoning Manager Marc Milliron said Jeffery isn’t the first person to raise this issue.
“We get this question a lot of times regarding the housing of rodents and where they move once the demolition begins,” Milliron said in an email.
The short answer is no — there’s nothing in Mansfield’s codes and ordinances that states property owners must exterminate any rodents onsite prior to a demolition. Such provisions are also lacking in the codified ordinances of Ontario, Shelby, Mount Vernon, Lima, Galion or Bucyrus.
One local exception is Canton, which requires buildings to be certified pest and rodent-free or exterminated prior to demolition.
The reason why so few area cities require extermination prior to demolition may be because rodent infestation is uncommon in large commercial buildings.
Milliron said that while rodents may be more likely to seek shelter in the winter, they typically don’t accumulate in large commercial structures because they lack a food source.
Mayor Tim Theaker echoed that argument. Theaker said he isn’t concerned about potential infestations at the West Park Shopping Center or Kingsgate Cinema because both locations have been vacant for years.
“If there’s no food source, rodents don’t stay around,” he said.
The Richland County Land Bank often acquires blighted properties and hires contractors to demolish homes or commercial structures that are beyond repair.
Land bank manager Amy Hamrick said the land bank occasionally gets complaints related to rodents after a demolition, but it doesn’t happen often.
She also noted that all demolitions on land bank-owned property follow city code, which doesn’t require any kind of extermination or relocation of rodents.
Mansfield’s ordinances do require residences be rodent-proof and rodent-free. It also requires any vermin-infested building in the city to be condemned.
In addition, city code requires contractors or property owners to remove all debris and seal any remaining walls after a demolition to prevent rodents from making themselves at home.
Joe Harrod, director of environmental health at Richland Public Health, said his department doesn’t get too many complaints about rodents.
Like Theaker, he said that rodents have two basic requirements – a food source and harborage. He advised anyone concerned about rodents to make sure their house is well-sealed and eliminate any potential food sources, like uncovered trash.
