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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-01-2004-4eORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: April t, 2004 Action Agen4a Item No. L}-r; SUBJECT: Substandard Rental Housing Task Force DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Excerpt from AOG Minutes INFORMATION CONTACT: where Task Farce was Approved Clerk's Office, ext. 2130, 2125, 2126, 2129 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 245-2130 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider an appointment to the Substandard Rental Housing Task Force. BACKGROUND: At the September 30, 2003 Orange County Assembly of Governments (AOG) meeting, Carrboro Alderman Jacqueline Gist raised concerns about substandard rental housing. She suggested and the assembly approved a countywide task force with representatives from all three municipalities be established to examine the issue. Tara Fikes, Director of Orange County Housing and Community Development, organized a staff level, pre-Task Force Work Group, which held three meetings to develop background research on the issue. At these meetings, Chapel Mill presented the Chapel Hill rental licensing program and a data base to identify rental properties. This staff work group included representatives appointed by the town managers from Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Chapel Hill. The objective of the pre-Task Force Work Group was to bring information and potential structure back to the BOCC and Town Boards and have the elected officials decide what the charge and composition of the formal, elected-official appointed Task Force would be. Proposed Charge The charge of the Substandard Rental Housing Task Force, as proposed by Carrboro, is to identify the extent of the problem of substandard rental housing in the County, identify the additional resources needed to address the problem and recommend policies and mechanisms to address the issue, The regulations and mechanisms would be presented at a future AOG meeting for discussion..lacquelyn Gist and John Herrera would convene the Task Farce. Because the AOG will not meet again until April, Steve Stewart, Carrboro Town Manager, has requested at this time that each local government appoint an elected official representative to serve on the Substandard Rental Housing Task Farce, FINANCIAL IMPACT: None. RECOMMENDATION(S): Consider making one appointment of an elected official to the Substandard Rental Housing Task Force. Oq-3 0 - 03 M ~ n wi-es -~ G ~ c e_~ p~ - . /~ o ~ c~- FHWA that their unified planning work program and their long-range transportation plan are conforming, Commissioner Jacobs asked if Hil Isborough is involved at all, pave Stancii said that he has talked with the Town Planning Director. Hillsborough is not involved i n ICLEI, but has a great interest in the ozone issues. Frances Dancy said that she is a member of the GTRC. Alex Zaffron said that in order to keep the Federal dollars flowing, the MPO must execute the plans as submitted, Commissioner Jacobs said that the County Commissioners had asked the legislators to help in getting a monitoring device in this County but to no avail. He suggested getting the Ghair to write a letter and have the Mayors sign on and again request a monitor so that we have a better gauge of what is going on in the County. A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs, seconded by Carrboro Alderman Diana McDuffee to write a letter to the Legislator s and have all Chairs and Mayors to sign, asking for a device to monitor air quality in Orange County, VOTE: UNANIMOUS Jacqueline Gist suggested seeing if UNC had any type of device that would measure air quality. Jim Ward said that he would ask the University about using such a device. Chair Brown asked to change the agenda and bring up item 6 now, 6. Substandard Rental Housing Task Force Jacqueline Gist said that .lohn Herrera brought up concern with substandard rental housing and its i mplications and how people are helpless in dealing w ith it because they are outside the system, She would like to develop a countywide task force with representatives from all three municipalities to find a way of examining the iss ue, to see how bad it really is, and to come up with some regulations and mechanisms that all municipalities would use to take care of these people. John Herrara said that this started concerning Carrboro, but it is something that he has seen countywide.. He s aid that there are a lot of working class people in rental housing in Carrboro, Right now the current housing codes and the landlord code are very pro-landlord. He said that it i s easier to get evicted than it is to get repairs done, People are taken~advantage of and some do not have contracts, He sees human rights abuses. if you start complaining, the system is too overwhelming for the working class folks. The housing code needs to be updated. He would like to see housing as a human rights issue. He woul d like to crack down on the landlords -the people who are charging per head and stealing from poor pe ople, He thinks that this is a crisis issue, He knows that tenants and landlords have responsibilities, but the tenants also have rights. He would also like to find a way to reward the good landlords. Jacqueline Gist said that a lot of these people that they are concerned ab out are not living in the big blocked apartments, but are living in s Ingle dwellings (small houses and trailers), They are asking staff to help put together a fairly high level task force to examine this problem as a distinct issue from affordable housing, Mayor Foy said that last year the Town of Chapel H ill instittated a rental-I icensing program that requires all landlords to r egister with the Town and pay a fee so that the Town can track them and so that the y can supply information to the tenant s through the landlord so that the tena nts know what the rules are. They also address non- responsive landlords, He is offering this as information that might be useful in tracking these kinds of issues. Chair Brown said that this caught her attention and she asked the County departments that deal with affordable housing to bring forward how the County deals with complaints. She thinks that the problem is that most peopl a do not understand their rights or how to get assistance. She said that the County would be involved in any way that is needed. Bili Strom said that he and Edith Wiggins co-chaired the Town committee that led a task force towards creating the guidelines for the rental-licensing program that the Council passed. Chapel Hi II has a requirement that the landlords certify that the rental units meet the State mini mum housing code, This shifts the burden from the renter to the landlord as far as maintaining the unit.. He is interested in pursuing this further, Jacquelyn Gist asked that each board appoint a representative to begin having initial discussions. A motion was made by .)acquelyn Gist, seconded by Commi ssioner Halkiotis for each board to appoint a board member or a representative to serve on an initial steering committee to address the issue of substandard rental properties, and ask staff to coordinate the meeting. John Herrara asked to p ut a target date on this task force and Jacquelyn Gist said that the steering committee should meet by the end of November and put target dates in at that time. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 4. Humane Society of the United States IHSUSI Report on Orange County Animal Shelter Chair Brown said that this report is online on the Orange County website and the Board of County Commissioners has a work session on this to come to a decision on how to proceed with the operation of the shelter. Kevin Foy asked about the decision about the Town's land at Eubanks Road. Chair Brown said that the staff is coming back at the work session on this topic with the pros and cons of several pieces of property, including the one that Chapel Hili offered. 5. Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization fCAMPO) Organizational Review Commissioner Jacobs said that he has been in m eetings where this is discussed and that he wants to know where everyone stands on this. He said that we all hay a the opportunity to add additional areas n ow that there is a new c ensus, He said that approximately 40% of Orange County participates in an RP O (Rural Planning Organization) with Chatham, Lee, and Moore Counties and he suggests that the towns let the Board of County Commissioners discuss whether it is the most beneficial route to include the entire County in the MPO. Alex Zaffron said that he is the Chair of the Durhsm-Chapel Hiil-Carrboro MPO, There are a lot of issues and it is extremely complex. He suggests that this group review the materials. The MPO will take this issue on next week, It is obviously a newly expressed interest on th e part of CAMPO to merge or to find a better, more cooperative governance structure. Regarding the RPO issue, his understanding of the legislation is that it must be a mutual agreement, 7. Informational Items a. Timelines for Town/County Partner Capital Projects b. Solid Waste Issues