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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002 11-19 HCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER 1N THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION NOVEMBER 19, 2002 SHINGLE CREEK CONFERENCE ROOM 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, Mary Barrus, Dennis Snook, Lloyd Deuel, Kathleen Carmody and Judy Thorbus. Also present was Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Council Liaison Tim Ricker was absent from the meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Carmody and seconded by Commissioner Deuel to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES -October 22, 2002 Chairperson Yelich stated he had noted a couple of corrections for the October 22 minutes pointing out that in the paragraph under approval of agenda it was Commissioner Erickson who pointed out the correction to be made on the agenda, and on page 3 of the minutes, paragraph 6, he stated that the words "with regard to increasing inspections" should be deleted from that paragraph. There was a motion by Commissioner Erickson and seconded by Commissioner Carmody to approve the minutes of the October 22, 2002 Aousing Commission meeting as amended. The motion passed. CHAIRPERSONS REPORT Chairperson Yelich congratulated Commissioner Carmody on her election victory. He also stated he appreciated the work of Councilmember Tim Ricker in his capacity as Council Liaison to the Housing Commission. The Chairperson then discussed the proposed Senior Housing Project being discussed by St. Alphonsus Catholic Church. He explained it is his understanding the project would include 70 senior only rental units operated by a non-profit organization. The proposed rents would be between $800 and $1,500 and there would be one and two bedroom aparhnents. Commissioner Erickson pointed out the project is still a proposal at this point but is proceeding along and the market is currently being evaluated for senior housing. 11-19-02 -1- I I RENTAL LICENSE ORDINANCE INFORMATION I, Chairperson Yelich opened the discussion and made note of information from a past meeting which I�, addressed the City Attorney's concerns regarding ordinances that address tenant behavior. He pointed out as part of its review, the Housing Commission is also looking at the City's Conduct on Licensed Premises ordinance section and how to improve the ordinance provisions in that section. i I The Community Development Specialist noted that there are two tracks with regard to rental licensing enforcement, one is the establishment of a provisional license which looks at the overall performance of a particular apartment complex and the other is the Conduct on Licensed Premises I which looks at the performance of individual units within the complex. Commissioner Barrus stated she reviewed the minutes of the October meeting and inquired as to the Housing Commission's direction now in relation to the comments of the Community Development Director made at the October meeting. Chairperson Yelich pointed out that the Housing Commission is an advisory body and the final product of any ordinance revision is a cooperative effort between the Housing Commission, staff and City CounciL Commissioner Erickson confirmed Chairperson Yelich's comments and stated that the next step for the Commission is to get an ardinance for review. The Community Development Specialist reviewed the graph prepared far the City ofNew Brighton with regard to calls for service. He noted the break point in the New Brighton graph appeared to be at approximately the .5 calls for service per unit. Ultimately this is the number that was used by the City in determining the point at which a provisional license is required. Chairperson Yelich stated he was surprised to learn that currently there have been no rental license revoked under the City's Conduct on Licensed Premises ordinance. He also stated he seems to recall the City's Prosecuting Attorney stating that the City should not micro manage apartment complexes. He stated he agreed with this philosophy and stated that he thinks the City should hold apartment owners accountable on a macro level and that the Conduct on Licensed Premises section is more of a micro managing approach. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson stated she got the feeling from the Community Development Director's comments that the ordinance just needs to be amended slightly, but if licenses have never been revoked the question comes about as to how long does the City allow a particular complex to be on a provisional license. She added that the three tier approach utilized by the City of Brooklyn Park would seem to provide more warning with regard to changes in a particular complex. She also brought up the cost of being proactive with regard to apartments versus the problems we have now. She stated that this should have been addressed years earlier especially in light of how much the City is spending presently. Commissioner Thorbus inquired whether the service fee approach had been reviewed further. 11-19-02 -2- h the Cit reviewed this a roach wit ialist stated he had Y The Communit Develo ment S ec pp Y P p Attorney and that in his opinion there is no authority for the City to enact a provision to collect a service fee for an extraordinary number of calls. The licensing fees for the City are used to cover the costs of administering the licensing program and a fee charged to recover costs related to an excessive number of calls is charging something for a service available to the public at large and one which the apartment is already paying for through taxes. Chairperson Yelich referred to the various bullets prepared in the C ommunity D evelopment Specialist's memorandum regarding rental licensing ordinance amendments. He explained that with regard to the first bullet, the commission seemed to like the idea of a provisional license for a six month period and also for increasing the fee if there is no compliance during that six month provisional license period. Also, he explained the requirement that the Council review the provisional license after six months is also a good idea. With regard to the second bullet, he noted that both New Brighton and Brooklyn Park have a specific list of calls for service which are counted for provisional license purposes. The Community Development Specialist noted that he is currently working with the City Police Department to come up with a comparable list of calls for service. The Commission discussed the third bullet point which provided for establishment of a threshold where calls for service would require a provisional license. The Commission briefly reviewed the graph prepared by the City of New Brighton for its determination of a provisional license. The Community Development Specialist noted that the City of Brooklyn Center could do a similar graph once we decide on the types of calls to be included in the calls for service. Commissioner Carmody suggested that one way to address the calls for service issue would be to start at a higher number of calls for service and then have as a goal to reduce below a certain specified number. For example she pointed out the starting point could be .6 or .7 call for service to be reduced down to .5 or below. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson commented that once we know the types of offenses to include and what the numbers are the point for a provisional license the number may become apparent. Commissioner Erickson stated that with regard to the background checks issue he believed the Commission should look at background checks for employees. Commissioner Barrus referred to the information on background checks submitted by staff and indicated that the Kari Koskinen law appears to cover anyone with access to an apartment. Chairperson Yelich next discussed bullet number 5 in the memorandum regarding clarification of language in Brooklyn Center ordinance 12-911. Chairperson Yelich noted the City keeps track of activity in apartment complexes on a unit by unit basis but the process in 12-911 regarding tenant behavior seems unclear and that apartment owners seem to have to wait for the City to tell them what to do under the ordinance. I 11-19-02 -3- w 1 re uire ins ections of n he last bullet which ou d Chairperson Yelich next reviewed the seco d to t q p half the units in an apartment complex each year so that inspectors would be able to visit apartment complexes annually. Commissioner Barrus suggested that perhaps the City could look at reducing rental fees for good performance and determine what is the bottom line cost of administration and base it on that. Commissioner Erickson stated that he agrees with the last bullet in the memorandum that all rental properties should be included in the ordinance. Commissioner Carmody suggested that she thinks we should include the three strikes and you're out provision in 12-911 to single family rentals also. Commissioner Deuel suggested that the City should also look at the no trespassing provision in the Minneapolis ordinance. Commissioner Barrus commented that she believes we should apply the ordinance to all licensed rental properties. OTHER B USINESS There was no other business addressed by the Commission. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Erickson and seconded by Commissioner Barrus to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Chairman I 11-19-02 -4-