CC Minutes - 05/19/08 Public Hearning

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discussions. She supported a sunset provision as a means for reviewing the program and determining that it was still meeting community needs. She had no objection to the provisions related to smoke detectors but felt the issue of mold needed to be examined in greater depth. She hoped the council would delay its decision until a work session could be held. Councilor Zelenka agreed with the need for more information on the issue of mold and asked for information from the Portland and Gresham programs which had addressed mold problems. He said the housing program was necessary because not all issues were handled on a voluntary basis. He did not think the program was duplicating regulatory requirements; it was a mechanism for assuring they were implemented. He said the proposed enhancements to housing standards represented basic health and safety issues. Councilor Bettman asked staff to review the public notice procedures for the ordinance. Marsha Miller, Planning and Development Department, replied that staff had returned to the council with a review of the public housing code as requested; two work sessions were held and the council provided clear direction on what was to be included in the ordinance. She said the City’s standard public notice procedures were followed as staff was not given directions to develop an advisory committee. She reminded the council that there had been at least three advisory committees on housing codes over the past 15 years. Councilor Bettman observed that whenever there was an ordinance regulating an industry, the industry wanted to help frame that ordinance. She did not feel an advisory committee was necessary every time the council considered revising the code; the public hearing provided adequate opportunity for input. She asserted that laws could not be predicated only on industry interests. She asked for a response from staff to public testimony if the council held another work session. She said over half of the housing units in Eugene were rental because the University of Oregon had externalized student housing needs to the community, making it necessary for the City to assure housing was habitable. She did not favor a sunset provision because the housing code was necessary to protect the health and safety of renters. Councilor Solomon remarked that a sunset provision provided an opportunity for the council to review the housing program and determine it was relevant and achieving the goals that were established for it and if it was not, revise the program to better meet needs. She was disappointed that staff did not provide more comprehensive notice of the proposed ordinance to the industry. She said no one was suggesting an advisory committee composed only of the industry and noted that Councilor Ortiz had emphasized the importance of including both landlords and tenants. She said the code was intended as a tool for both landlords and renters and instead it appeared it was being used against landlords. Councilor Solomon agreed with the need for an accounting of how program funds were spent and also asked for a report on the number of calls, call types and responses to those calls since the program’s inception. She did not find the program’s website helpful. She asked for clarification of how emergency provisions were enforced. Rachelle Nicholas, Planning and Development Department, replied that a section of the code addressed dangerous buildings and referred to the building code. She could not think of any instance where a house had been posted for rental housing code standards. She said what typically happened was that an inspection under the rental housing code identified safety concerns related to the State building code that were serious enough to warrant posting a house as a dangerous building. She said there had been four incidents of that nature. Councilor Solomon asked if the rental housing code emergency clause had been used to enter a building without notifying a landlord. She said that had been done under the State building code as the City’s staff enforced both the rental housing and State building codes. She said the program received both types of calls MINUTES—Eugene City Council May 19, 2008 Page 8 Public Hearing