Two years after Hanover Borough approved the municipality's rental registration ordinance, Hanover's long-debated rental inspection proposal has returned to discussion.
In a release, Hanover Borough announced that Hanover officials will hold a town hall meeting to discuss adding inspections to the current Residential Rental Unit Registration Ordinance.
The town hall meeting will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in the council chambers of the Hanover Public Administration Building at 33 Frederick Street in Hanover, according to the release.
During the meeting, public safety officials will provide an update on rental housing in Hanover, the release said.
While the council will take no action during the meeting, borough residents, property owners, and renters, along with any other interested individuals, were encouraged to attend to provide their input on the topic during public comment periods.
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"Each person will be asked to provide their name and residency status for the record and will be limited to five minutes to ensure all participants have an opportunity to be heard," the release stated.
An agenda, which was not yet available as of Friday, Aug. 28, will be posted prior to the meeting, the release said.
The meeting will be livestreamed by Community Media of South Central Pennsylvania, according to the release, and a link to watch the meeting will be available on the Hanover Borough website at www.HanoverBoroughPA.gov.
The announcement of a town hall regarding rental inspections arrived more than 11 years after the topic was first discussed by Hanover officials.
In the March 2015 joint comprehensive plan by Hanover Borough and Penn Township, the plan recommended to Hanover officials that the borough should institute yearly inspections of rental units, citing the existing programs already in place in Penn Township and other municipalities.
From that initial recommendation in 2015, a 2019 proposal for fire inspections in rental properties from the borough's fire chief was struck down by council, followed by another proposal for rental inspections in 2022, which also failed to pass a council vote.
A survey on rental inspections was then commissioned by Hanover council in 2023, which saw widespread public support for inspections, with roughly 83 percent of the 537 respondents to the survey supporting the program.
Previously reported: Survey finds widespread support for proposed Hanover rental inspection program
In 2024, after significant debate, Hanover council initially passed a rental registration and inspection ordinance in a 6-4 vote, but the ordinance was then vetoed by then-mayor SueAnn Whitman, who alleged inspections would "increase homelessness."
Failing to overcome Whitman's veto in July 2024, Hanover council instead opted to pass a separate rental registry program in Aug. 2024, deferring the inspection portion of the program for further development and debate.
As of April of 2026, Hanover Borough reported more than 2,000 rental units had been registered within the municipality.
Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Hanover to revisit rental inspection debate with town hall meeting