Union's Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 against moving forward with a proposal that would have required occupancy inspections whenever a home in the city changes owners or tenants, keeping the city's current complaint-driven code enforcement system in place for now. The vote came after months of debate and pushback from local property owners who said the added inspections would only slow down home sales.
The commission's rejection means Union will not send the proposed occupancy permit rules to the Board of Aldermen for further consideration, according to a report from the Missourian. Commissioner Richard Purschke, who made the motion not to advance the changes, said the proposal would burden property sales that do nothing but delay the process. Union City Engineer JD Kelley had discussed potential occupancy inspection requirements with the commission as recently as this past Monday, laying out policy and administrative questions that remained unresolved before any final program could take shape.
Under the rejected proposal, inspections would have checked smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical equipment, with any approval valid for 90 days. Kelley told the commission the proposed rules would not have required older homes to meet new-construction standards, and the final program would have needed to determine whether requirements applied to ownership changes, tenancy changes, or both. Kelley had presented the commission with occupancy regulations gathered from seven other cities as part of the research behind the proposal.
A Debate Four Years In The Making
The commission has discussed occupancy permits four times since October 2025, per Kelley, and had already tabled the proposal for six months back in January before taking it up again. This is not the first time Union has wrestled with the idea — the city last considered requiring occupancy permits in 2016, when Mike Livengood was mayor.
Commissioner Ed Schmelz was among those pushing back hardest on the current proposal, saying occupancy inspection requirements can burden every property sale and delay the process. Schmelz also asked for statistics showing how occupancy permit requirements actually improve safety, a request that appears to have gone unanswered in the commission's discussions. Union Mayor Bob Schmutz said most owners already care about how their properties look inside and out, and he specifically opposed occupancy inspection requirements for properties less than five to 10 years old.
What Missouri Law Allows — And What Neighbors Do Differently
Missouri law gives cities like Union a real choice in this fight. Missouri Revised Statutes Section 436.345, according to the Missouri General Assembly, prohibits local governments from requiring residential property owners to undergo a mandatory pre-sale home inspection, but it explicitly exempts municipal occupancy permits and new construction inspections from that restriction — meaning Union could have adopted the rules had commissioners voted differently.
Just up the road, neighboring Washington, Missouri takes the opposite approach. The city enforces a mandatory residential occupancy inspection program checking exterior structures, plumbing, electrical, mechanical systems, and life-safety items before issuing a permit for new occupants or property transfers, according to the City of Washington. Cities including Washington require occupancy inspections of rental properties every time tenants change, the commission's discussions noted. Numerous municipalities across St. Louis County and St. Louis City go even further, enforcing mandatory residential transfer inspections under the International Property Maintenance Code and issuing Certificates of Compliance that remain valid for 90 to 180 days, according to St. Louis County government.
Why Sellers And Landlords Pushed Back
The financial stakes for property owners help explain the intensity of the opposition heard by the commission from several people who build and manage properties in Union. The standard Missouri REALTORS® Residential Sale Contract already requires sellers to apply for and fund any municipal occupancy compliance inspections local governments require before closing, per Missouri REALTORS® contract language — meaning a failed inspection under a new Union program could have stalled closings unless sellers fixed code deficiencies within tight contractual windows.
Franklin County's rental market adds further context to the debate. The county's rental housing maintains a stabilized occupancy rate of approximately 98.1%, with average monthly rents near $878 per unit as of 2025, according to MMG Real Estate Advisors. In a market that tight, added turnover inspections and delays between tenants could ripple quickly through landlords' bottom lines. Union itself had a 2020 population of 12,348 across 5,088 total housing units, with a 60.6% homeownership rate, according to U.S. Census Bureau data — leaving a substantial rental and resale market that would have been touched by any new occupancy rule.
Commercial Inspections Remain Mandatory
The rejection applies only to residential occupancy changes; commercial inspections in Union remain untouched. Under existing city ordinances, all new commercial businesses and existing businesses undergoing a change in use, tenancy, or ownership must still obtain an occupancy permit requiring inspection approval from both the City Building Department and the Union Fire Protection District. That fire district operates as an independent political subdivision covering more than 96 square miles of Franklin County, separate from city government, while Union's own fire protection remains volunteer-staffed.
For now, Union appears to be sticking with its current complaint-driven process rather than joining neighboring cities in mandating inspections at every ownership or tenancy change. Whether the issue returns to the Planning and Zoning Commission again, as it has multiple times since 2016, remains to be seen.
