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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007 03-20 HCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION MARCH 20, 2007 COUNCIL GOMMISSION ROOM CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Thorbus at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Judy Thorbus, Commissioners Kara Kuykendall, Steve Landis, Kris Lawrence- Anderson, and Joshua Xiong. Also present were Council Liaison Dan Ryan and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Commissioners Michael Johnson and Yolanda Lee were absent and excused. At the requests of Chairperson Thorbus, Commissioner Landis introduced himself to the Commission explaining that he had spent 20 years in the Navy and traveled extensively noting that the diversity he saw in housing over those years was a tie into the diversity of the community and thought he could contribute to the Commission. Commission members introduced themselves to Commissioner Landis. APPROVAL OFAGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Kuykendall and seconded by Commissioner Lawrence- Anderson to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FEBRUARY 20, 2007 There was a motion by Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson and seconded by Commissioner Kuykendall to approve the minutes of the February 20, 2007 Housing Commission meeting. The motion passed. CHAIRPERSONS REPORT Chairperson Thorbus stated she was in attendance at the Brooklyn Park City Council meeting when the Council passed the Time of Sale ordinance for Brooklyn Park. She noted a number of realtors were also present at the meeting. She reviewed the main points of the ordinance adopted by Brooklyn Park including: Ordinance will be implemented for five years. The Council did extend the correction time period from 60 to 180 days. Brooklyn Park staff recommended inspections be done by City Staff for consistency and because codes are constantly changing. 3-20-07 -1- COUNCIL LIAISONREPORT Council member Ryan explained he had contacted St. Louis Park and obtained the materials distributed to Housing Commission members relative to St. Louis Park's Time of Sale program. He explained St. Louis Park concluded that the program would not be effective unless they use their own inspectors. He added St. Louis Park has a number of part time staffers that work on the Time of Sale program. I�� sunvnary, Councilmember Ryan noted the following relative to the St. Louis Park program: The program was implemented in 1973. The city housing stock was in good shape in St. Louis Park in the 1970's. St. Louis Park was ahead of the curve and it was advantageous that they started the program early. St. Louis Park does approximately 1,000 inspections per year under the Time of Sale program. The Mayor of St. Louis Park is convinced that the program has been extremely valuable to preserving the city's housing stock. Commission members began their discussion of Time of Sale ordinances and the information contained in their packets relative to ordinances in other cities. A summary of some of the comments from Commission members concerning Time of Sale included the following: House flipping is becoming a problem and people buy homes where a cosmetic fix is done and subsequently first time homebuyers may not get the home they thought they were getting. Time of Sale takes steps to protect the home they buy. Time of sale inspections may slow down the closing on some homes which may be a problem. One solution would be to require a Time of Sale inspection before the home is listed. Education of the community relative to any Time of Sale ordinance is very important since this is a paradigm shift in how homes would be listed and sold. PROT�ISIONAL LICENSE UPDATE The Community Development Specialist briefly introduced the Calls for Service data for the past few years relative to ordinance 12-913. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson stated that the information she requested is here but it is not in a fonnat that is readily readable and suggested that the information be presented in the form of a graph or some other more easily readable form. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson reviewed the Commission's work on 12-913 in the past and noted that the ordinance has allowed the city to monitor Calls for Service prior to it becoming a problem and that the ordinance appears to be effective for that purpose. CONTINUA TION OF TIME OF SALE DISCUSSION Councilmember Ryan addressed the Council's work session where Time of Sale was discussed and explained that at the work session it was discussed that the Housing Commission could possibly 3-20-07 -2- provide three options for ordinances in a range of enforcement levels. Commissioner Thorbus stated she had talked to the City Manager to discuss the Housing Commission's consideration of Time of Sale. She explained the City Manager noted that the Time of Sale is within the Housing Commission's purview to review but that she would also like to have some direction from the Council prior to the Housing Commission considering Time of Sale. Councilmember Ryan discussed the possibility of a joint meeting with the City Council relative to direction for the Housing Commission. The Commission continued its discussion of Time of Sale and other issues relative to housing in the city. Commissioner Kuykendall addressed the issue of code enforcement and expressed a concern about how it is being enforced. She noted that if the goal is to improve the housing stock, the number one goal should be to improve code enforcement. Chairperson Thorb�as noted that in the February 26, 2007 City Council work session minutes, it was discussed by Councilmember Yelich that consideration should be given to enforcement in all rental units regardless of size of the rental property. Chairperson Thorbus also noted that she believed the Housing Commission should educate themselves on Time of Sale and continue the discussion. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson addressed the issue of including additional rental properties in the city's 12-913 ordinance. Councilmember Ryan noted that he believes addre ssing code enforcement may also get to the rental issues the Commission is concerned with. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson noted that if the Commission looks at single family rental, we should look at Calls for Service and the city's rental ardinance, focusing on the responsibility of the owner for management of single family rental properties including tenant behavior and property maintenance. Commissioller Kuykendall stated she would like to get City Council direction on the issues discussed by the Commission including Time of Sale, code enforcement and rental properties. Commissioner Landis noted that code enforcement addresses exterior issues and Time of Sale focuses on� interior issues. He noted both are important and Time of Sale is going to find different problems than code enforcement. He stated he believes there is an important distinction between code enfarcement and Time of Sale. Chairperson Thorbus stated that, until we hear from the City Council she believes the Commission should continue with its Time of Sale investigation identifying the pros and cons of Time of Sale and comparing and contrasting codes from other cities. Councilmember Ryan stated that in summary, the main points the Housing Commission wants the City Council to consider relative to the Housing Commission is rental property management issues, including those pertinent to complexes under four units, general code enforcement, especially for 3-20-07 -3- chronic offenders, and Time of Sale. OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business addressed by the Commission. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Landis and seconded by Commissioner Xiong to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 8:SO p.m. Chairman 3-20-07 -4-