Memorandum
City
of Lawrence
Planning
& Development Services
TO:
|
David L. Corliss, City
Manager
|
FROM:
|
Planning and Development
Services Staff
|
Date:
|
For December 17, 2013 City
Commission Regular Meeting
|
RE:
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Rental Expansion
|
At the December 3, 2013 City
Commission meeting, the Commission agreed that Mayor Dever and Vice-Mayor Amyx
would review the complete list of minimum housing standards of the Property
Maintenance Code and submit to the full Commission a list of standards that
would fulfill the goal of establishing a program that would inspect only
standards identified to address the highest level of life-safety issues. The
Commission also requested certain administrative forms related to the program
to ensure that the administrative implementation of the program aligned with
the ordinance. The following is provided:
1. Ordinance
8840 (Draft 1 considered
on December 3rd)
2. Ordinance
8840 (Draft 2) - a
proposed ordinance submitted by the Mayor and Vice-Mayor which proposes
revisions as noted later in this memo
3. Initial City Attorney
Office Comments Draft 2 to Ordinance 8840 Draft 2
4. Draft Rental License Application
5. Draft Checklist Reflecting
Ordinance 8840 Draft 1 (Complete list of Property Maintenance Code standards,
as well as reference to the Land Development Code for zoning and occupancy
standards, with standards of Draft 2 highlighted in turquoise for comparison purposes)
6. Draft Checklist
Reflecting Ordinance 8840 Draft 2 (listing only those standards included in the
proposed Draft 2 ordinance without comparison to the complete list of code
standards)
7. Draft Rental License
8. Draft Consent for Inspection Form
9. Draft Revised Administrative
Regulations
The following further explains
the attachments noted above:
Ordinance 8840 (Draft 1
considered on December 3rd)
- This is the ordinance
considered by the Commission December 3 provided for reference.
Ordinance 8840 Draft 2
- Ordinance 8840 (Draft 2) has
been submitted by the Mayor and Vice-Mayor as an outcome of the December 3rd
Commission discussion. The substantial changes from the Draft 1
ordinance includes:
- Revisions to the
recitals/purpose of the program.
- Requiring that inspectors be
certified to perform their duties.
- Proposing a new definition for
“Qualified Vacant Unit” and setting a policy to inspect such units as a
priority of the inspection process.
- Incorporating the license
application, inspection checklist, and consent form as attachments to the
ordinance.
- Adding a requirement for staff
to present specific evidence when alleging fraud or misrepresentation of
a license application.
- Sets the first cycle of
expiration dates in the year 2016.
- Re-inserts the 15-unit cap on
the number of units to inspect owned by a licensee.
- Requires at least 72 hours of
notice to enter with consent or with the granting of an administrative
search warrant.
- Establishes a subset list of
minimum housing maintenance codes by which to apply to inspections.
Maintains the major and minor aspects related to the incentive program.
- Clarifies responsibility for
adhering to occupancy limits.
- Clarifies elements of the
appeal and revocation process.
- Deletes a recent provision
added to the RS-based program related to a municipal judge having
authority to suspend the fine if found guilty of a violation.
- Establishes an automatic
termination of the program at the end of 2017 unless the Commission
extends the program.
Initial Staff Response to
Ordinance 8840 Draft 2
- This document highlights initial
recommended revisions to Ordinance 8840 Draft 2 per staff’s review. If it
is the desire of the Commission to proceed with Draft 2, staff recommends
that the Commission provide direction in formalizing Draft 2 for more
formal consideration in January.
Forms
- Application – A draft
application is provided that captures owner and property information in
order to issue the license. Per previous City Commission direction
related to the RS-based program, the application requires a landlord to
acknowledge the occupancy limits and inform their tenants of such. Staff
provides a form as part of the application process for landlords’ use to
complete this aspect of the program.
- Consent form – A draft consent
form is provided to reflect the city’s request of tenants to provide
written consent to allow entry to complete the inspection. Note that it
does provide notice of possible photographing of violations. Staff has
removed any reference to taking video as this is not typically the
practice of staff.
- Checklists – The inspection
checklist is useful in several ways: it provides notice to landlords and
tenants of the list of possible code violations, it aids the inspectors in
identifying potential code violations, and it serves as the official
notice of violation to the landlord or tenant if a violation exists. It
will need to be revised to incorporate the final list of standards as
agreed upon by the Commission. The checklist associated with Ordinance
8840 Draft 1 includes all the possible minimum code standards of the
Property Maintenance Code and highlights, in turquise color, those
standards that will be inspected by the rental inspection program per the Draft
2 ordinance. The checklist associated with Ordinance 8840 Draft 2
includes only those standards included in the Draft 2 ordinance.
- Rental License – This is the
document that will be provided to the licensee.
Administrative Regulations
- The Administrative Regulations
have been revised from the December 3rd version to reflect the proposed
ordinance changes included in Draft 2.
Action Requested
Review information and direct
staff as appropriate.