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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002 03-19 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 19, 2002 CONFERENCE ROOM A CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Yelich at 7 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Mark Yelich, Commissioners Ernie Erickson, Kris Lawrence-Anderson, Dennis Snook, Lloyd Deuel, Kathleen Carmody, Michael VonDeLinde and Judy Thorbus. Also present were Council Liaison Tim Ricker, Community Development Director Brad Hoffman and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Erickson and seconded by Commissioner Deuel to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES -Februa 19 2002 �7' There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Erickson to approve the minutes of the February 19, 2002 Housing Commission meeting as submitted. The motion passed. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT Chairperson Yelich stated inforrned the commission members of the annual recognition gathering to be held at the West Fire Station at the corner of 63` Avenue North and Brooklyn Boulevard. He noted Commissioners will be receiving a written invitation to this event. Chairperson Yelich stated that he wants to reaffirm the Commission's role of discussing and reviewing issues regarding current matters befare the City. He commented the Commission's influence regarding discussion of issues at their meetings is important and that many people read the minutes and Housing Commission discussion of the issues before the Commission. Chairperson Yelich noted he had attended the Council session on March 18"' and noted that the Housing Commission may be getting involved in reviewing various rental code options and issues related to redevelopment areas in xhe City. DISCUSSION OF CITY CODE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM AND PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 12 OF THE BROOKLYIV CENTER CODE OF ORDINANCES RELATING TO LICENSING OF RENTAL PROPERTIES 3-19-02 -1- Chairperson Yelich commented that last month the Council considered a proposed amendment to Chapter 12 regarding rental licensing. He noted the ordinance was tabled and would be taken up at a future meeting. He introduced Brad Hoffman the City's Community Development Director, who was here this evening to share inforrnation regarding rerital code ordinances. The Community Development Director explained the City is currently involved with an enforcement of Chapter 12 at one complex in the City. He explained most rental complexes in the City do a good job of managing their facilities but some have chosen to manage their properties in a way that they create problems and are not good neighbors. He explained further that currently, Section 12-910 of the existing code, which is the section addressing rental license suspension or revocation, provides for revocation of a license for failure to comply with the provisions of Chapter 12 or the laws of the State of Minnesota. The amendment proposed for Chaptex 12 would elaborate on the process and spell it out in the ordinance with a more specific description of the process. He explained the City Attorney and City's Prosecuting Attorney have reviewed Section 12-910 and have proposed an amendment to it. He explained the draft is designed to be more specific as to what particular things are violations and referred commission members to the section of the proposed amendment starting with paragraph a, b, c etc. The Community Development Director explained that the proposed ordinance amendment dealing with Section 12-910 is somewhat of a Phase I in the process in that it spells out a process for specific things a Council must address when considering revocation of a license. He further explained the ordinance also sets up a due process procedure for managers and owners of rental property. He added that the second reading of this ordinance is coming up on March 25, 2002. The Community Development Director explained he had reviewed the proposed ordinance with the City's Apartment Rental Manager (ARM) group. He explained ARM did not really have major concerns with the ordinance except there was a concern relative to what if certain things happened with regard to administration of the ordinance and how they would be addressed. He explained that ordinances always have those "what if" questions that really cannot be resolved within the ordinance itself, and relate more to the administration and interpretation of the ordinance. The Community Development Director explained the next step in the process would be Phase II which would begin with the review of examples of ordinances currently considered or adopted in other cities. He cited the examples of New Brighton, Brooklyn Park and Richfield. He noted the proposed ordinance is an all or none proposition and some of the proposed ordinances can revoke units in a particular complex or a single building or all the complex thereby giving the enforcement authority more flexibility. He summarized by stating that Phase II of the process would attempt to unprove the current "three strikes and you're out" provision in the ordinance. Commissioner Erickson commented that this ordinance recommendation is coming from the City Council rather than from the bottom up which is the normal procedure. He noted the Commission did not get involved in it at the early stages of development. 3-19-02 -2- The Community Development Director explained that the process in part is due to the eminent need for the ordinance amendment and otherwise it probably would have gone through a different process. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson mquired how sunilar this ordinance is to other erties and is it essentially one used in older communities. Councilmember Ricker replied that Brooklyn Park is going through a very thorough process of providing detail in their ordinance as to what things constitute violations. Commissioner Erickson inquired as to the current level of turnover in apartment complexes. Councilmember Ricker replied that it is not unusual to see 40% to 60% annual turnover for a complex of 100 units or more. Chairperson Yelich inquired whether any specific action was required by the Housing Commission this evening. The Community Development Director explained that staff would be providing information to the Housing Commission relative to the Phase II review of city code, including examples of ordinance provisions in other cities. Commissioner Erickson inquired whether a motion might be appropriate. Chairperson Yelich indicated that he thinks it would be appropriate. There was a motion by Commissioner Erickson to endorse the proposed amendment to Section 12-910 of the City Code as submitted to the Housing Commission. The motion was seconded by Commissioner DeueL In discussion of the motion Commissioner Deuel stated he thinks the City hit bottom a few years ago regarding rental properties and that it was largely turned around but some still are a problem in the City. He believes the Commission should support the ordinance. Commissioner Snook indicated that he had brought up the issue Minneapolis SAFE program in the past as it relates to trespassing on rental property. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson inquired whether the City has enough staff to deal with ordinance revisions such as are being considered. The Community Development Director explained that this would be a priority for the Inspection Department. Chairperson Yelich called for a vote on the motion on the floor. The motion passed. 3-19-02 -3- The Community Development Director next discussed the code enforcement sweep and noted that the sweep will begin on the 1 31 of May. He noted last year 1500 compliance orders were issued and all but 30 of them were resolved. He explained the first sweep is usually complete by July and then re-inspection of the area begins. The Community Development Director inquired of the Housing Commission if there were any concerns they had regarding code enforcement. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson commented on a property near her home and noted that a dining room table was still in the front yard of the property, cars were in the rear yard and the garage door was still just hanging from the frame. She explained her concern was with repeat offenders and how the City deals with them and should the ordinance be changed to address the repeat offender. I The Community Development Director explained that the City Prosecutor has always emphasized that there is enough enforcement built into the ordinance but that judges often only go so far in their final decisions on these types of properties. He explained there are similar repeat offenders throughout the City and they all seem to do the same thing, perform a minimal clean up and then go right back on the same track. Chairperson Yelich inquired whether the enforcement officer was located in the Community Development Department. The Community Development Director replied Code Enforcement is done in the Police Department. Commissioner Thorbus noted that, with regard to the Commission's discussion on RV's, Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson discussed an option where the ordinance would specify a certain percentage proportion of the driveway to be occupied by an RV. The Community Development Directar explained that by not specifying exact distances an ordinance specifying percentages is difficult to enforce in court. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson noted that some ordinances in other cities address a certain length of vehicle and that she brought up the proportion concept because there does appear to be a wide variation in ordinances. DISCUSS RECREATION VEHICLE PARKING/STORAGE The Community Development Specialist thanked Commissioner Deuel for pointing out the current RV vehicle and storage ordinance being considered at the city of Hopkins. He also reviewed briefly the ordinance being considered at the city of Rosemount which would restrict parking of recreational vehicles to side or zear yards with decorative rock required in the parking areas. He added that the Rosemount ordinance would limit the time that RV's could be parked in the front driveway area to loading and unloading which could be anywhere from 48 to 72 hours. 3-19-02 -4- Commissioner Deuel noted the St. Louis Park and Hopkins ordinances and commented that the trend is to more restrictive parking regarding RV's. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson stated that she thinks the Commission needs to look at the overall appeal of the City and to look at priorities. The RV parking issue does not appear to be as high a priority right now as the rental licensing issues. Commissioner Thorbus indicated she had thought about the seasonal parking issue previously discussed by the Commission along with the discussion of limiting recreational vehicles to two per lot and also to issue a citation to vehicles if they are on the City boulevard. Chairperson Yelich inquired whether the Commission should put som�thing together with Commissioner Erickson's memorandum to the City Council such as some type of recommendation. Commissioner Erickson commented that RV's will likely not be viewed by the public or the City Council as a top priority right now and reminded commission members of the Time of Sale issue. He explained the Council responded negatively to the Commission's recommendations after holding a public discussion where residents were opposed to the recommendations. He added further that he is not as familiar with Rosemount or Hopkins as much as he is with St. Louis Park but he does have some concerns about an ordinance regarding RV's at the present time. Commissioner Carmody stated that she thinks the Commission should still do something even though it will likely not be an important issue now. Chairperson Yelich indicated that the consensus appears to be that we could send Commissioner Erickson's memo to the City Council. He noted this is not an easy issue to deal with and commented that the Commission could send photos along indicating that we do recognize problems but that it is not a high priority right now. Commissioner Erickson stated that something the City Council should tell the Commission now is whether they feel strongly enough about RV parking to have the Commission pursue the issue. Commissioner Thorbus inquired whether the City could put an article in the newsletter regarding what the current ordinance says now. Chairperson Yelich stated the consensus appears to be to send the memorandum drafted by Commissioner Erickson. He inquired if Commissioner Erickson would add to his memorandum. Commissioner Erickson stated that he would add comments about the RV parking photos reviewed by the Commission. He added he would delete the last sentence and mention the photos in the memorandum. There was a consensus of commission members to have Commissioner Erickson draft a revised memorandum and for the Community Development Specialist to forward the memorandum to the City Manager and Council. 3-19-02 -5- OTHER B USINESS Commissioner Erickson inquired as to the status of the Commission's reconunendations on driveways and junk cars. The Community Development Specialist stated he would follow up on the status of the joint meeting and report back to the Commission. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Carmody and seconded by Commissioner Deuel to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Chairman I I j 3-19-02 -6-