Repeal of city ordinance doesn’t mean rental inspections are over

City has been sued several
times over inspection rules

Rental inspections aren’t going to end in La Crosse.

The city’s controversial rental-registration-and-inspection ordinance is very likely to be partially repealed, but the inspections will go on, says fire chief Gregg Cleveland.

Cleveland, also head of city inspections, says rule changes will just mean a slight change in technique for his inspectors

“Our job now,” Cleveland said, “is to say, ‘OK, how can we get the same outcomes by changing our process, the number of inspections and how we do our inspections?’ “

Next month’s move to repeal by the city council comes after several landlords successfully sued the city over the inspection rules.

Last summer, a judge ruled that the city’s ordinance violated state law. Much of the ordinance would remain in place even after the repeal.