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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002 12-17 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 DECEMBER 17, 2002 SHINGLE CREEK CONFERENCE ROOM CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Yelich at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Mark Yelich, Commissioners Ernie Erickson, Kris Lawrence-Anderson, Mary Barrus, Dennis Snook, Lloyd Deuel, and Judy Thorbus. Also present was Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Commissioner Kathleen Carmody was absent and excused from the meeting. Council Liaison Tim Ricker was absent from the meeting. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Erickson to approve the agenda. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES NOVEMBER 19, 2002 There was a motion by Commissioner Erickson and seconded by Commissioner Snook to approve the minutes of the November 19, 2002 Housing Commission meeting. The motion passed. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT Chairperson Yelich noted in the recent City Council minutes a settlement had apparently been approved in the Summerchase lawsuit. Commissioner Yelich stated that one of the goals for the Housing Commission is to attempt to achieve consensus when reviewing issues brought before it. He shared information on a process for consensus building that he has used in the past which Chairperson Yelich referred to as the "fist to five" process. This is a means of getting quick input on a particular issue where a fist indicates an opposition to an item, one finger indicates the individual may not like the item but will not oppose it and a hand showing five fingers denotes the highest approval. He suggested using this process in reviewing the draft ordinance regarding rental licensing. The Community Development Specialist briefly reviewed the draft ordinance pertaining to the licensing of rental units in the City of Brooklyn Center, pointing out that the ordinance is modeled after the New Brighton ordinance with some additional provisions as recommended by the Housing Commission. He noted that on Page 4 of the draft ordinance under Section 12-912, the number of police or fire calls which would trigger a provisional license has been left blank and added that he is working with the police department to generate a calls for service list which could be graphed similar to the process used in the City of New Brighton. He indicated he would have the data regarding calls 12-17-02 -1- for service available at the January meeting. The Community Development Specialist noted that the ordinance as drafted applies to complexes of four units or more and single family and duplex units have been excluded from the ordinance. One of the problems with including single family and duplexes is that, depending on the number used for the calls for service triggering a provisional license, this could create somewhat of a distortion for single family and duplex units. For example, he pointed out that if .5 calls over a six month period are used as a standard for establishing a provisional license, this would mean that one call to a single family unit in a year would require them to have a provisional license. Commissioner Barrus pointed out that the Commission did want to include all rental property in the ordinance including single family. Commissioner Erickson noted that the numbers could be skewed somewhat by including single family properties in the provisional license requirements. The Commission continued to discuss the issue of including single family and duplexes in the ordinance and Commissioner Barrus suggested that instead of adding individual single family properties, the ordinance could be written to include four units or more when they are owned by the same person or company. Commissioner Yelich also brought up the issue of tri-plexes and including them in the ordinance and noted that the only issue appears to be the tracking of calls for service at four individual single family properties. Commission members reached a consensus that four or more single family properties owned by the same person or company should be considered for inclusion in the ordinance. Chairperson Yelich next brought up the issue of the provisional licensing process in the ordinance and noted that the calls for service measurement period in the draft ordinance is for six months. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson stated that she would still like to see the licensing period changed from two years to one year, pointing out that this is an apparent loop hole in the ordinance I possibly creating a situation where property owners will not have to pay attention to their performance until close to the end of the second year of their licensing period. She added that this ordinance is an opportunity for the City to be proactive and to avoid lawsuits like the one with the Summerchase Apartments. With regard to changing the licensing period, the Community Development Specialist noted that there may be certain administrative costs related to this change. The Commission continued to discuss this item and expressed the belief that, given the number of apartment complexes in the city, changing the license period to one year should not present an administrative problem and that if the computer program designed to monitor these licenses is done properly it should not take an inordinate amount of effort. Chairperson Yelich stated that he would also like to consider extending the time period used to monitor calls for service from six months to one year prior to license renewal. 12-17-02 -2- There was a general consensus of Commissions members that the measurement period for the calls for service relative to provisionallicense should be changed from six months to one year, and rental licenses should be renewed annuall Y Chairperson Yelich referred to Page 4 of the draft ordinance and noted that the threshold point for provisional licenses used in the New Brighton draft, as an example, is an arbitrary cutoff point. He suggested doing annual comparisons of calls for service among the city's apartment complexes so that the number of calls for service used to trigger the provisional license would be adjusted annually. Commission Barrus suggested that the calls for service number could start at a fixed level and then with experience in the program, it could be revised downward to improve the performance of the various apartment complexes. The Community Development Specialist commented that, whatever system is employed must be legally defensible. He pointed out the City Attorney felt the fixed number used by the City of New Brighton was a legally defensible position as it had been initially determined. Additionally, he pointed out that the program must be able to be administered so that apartment owners can understand it and be relatively comfortable with it. Commissioner Barrus stated that she thinks it should be possible to establish a bottom line number going back four years to develop a good average of calls for service over that four year period. Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson suggested that we could start out with a specific number then change it annually over a three year period, etc. so that over time the expectation for a lower number could be established and apartment owners and managers could plan for this process. The Commission deferred further discussion item until hard numbers for calls for service could be obtained from the City's Police Department. Chairperson Yelich brought up the issue of using positive reinforcement and rewards for apartment complexes relative to improving their performance. The Community Development Specialist briefly discussed the Crime Free Multi Housing program, which the City's Police Department is now pursuing. He noted this progam consisted oftraining for apartment managers and owners and also included the use of certain design features such as improved lighting, etc. to improve the performance of apartment complexes relative to criminal activity. OTHER B USINESS I Commissioner Thorbus brought up the recent newspaper article on the City of St. Louis Park's redevelopment along Excelsior Boulevard. She stated the article noted it was part of the Smart Growth activities being undertaken in St. Louis Park consisting of mixed use residential and businesses. She stated she believed the redevelopment looked to be very positive and noted that this may be something the City of Brooklyn Center would consider in its redevelopment activities. 12-17-02 -3- There was no other business addressed by the Commission. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Barrus and seconded by Commissioner Thorbus to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 8:50 p.m. I t,�l�- Ch i an i 12-17-02 -4-