“There’s got to be some evidence to start the process, not just a he-said, she-said type of thing,” Corcoran said after the meeting.

Greenberg said he expects the revised ordinance to pass at its next reading.

“Based on our conversation tonight and our first two approvals, your guess is as good as mine but it looks pretty positive,” Greenberg said. “And since I’m the only person who was asking questions and they weren’t related to the validity of the ordinance, I think that speaks to the council’s proclivity to agree that it’s well written and appropriate.

Greenberg and Corcoran said that over several years, no one ever appealed a nuisance violation with the city.

“There’s been hundreds of these nuisance hearings and no one has felt that they’ve been taken advantage of to the extent that they’ve wanted to appeal it,” Greenberg said. “The process works. Apparently, everyone wants to make sure that the process works all the time and can’t be manipulated, and so everyone should be happy then.”

At least 69 municipalities across the St. Louis region have some type of nuisance ordinance. Some are enforced as fines against landlords, while others, such as Maplewood’s, target the occupancy permit holder.