Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz said the urgency to tackle troublesome rental properties in
the city became clear to her one day when she received a telephone call from a woman
afraid to leave her name. In
talking with her, Kluttz learned that the woman was a widow living in a once proud
neighborhood that had become rundown and neglected. She lived next door to rental property
where drug transactions were taking place.
The woman called the owner of the
rental property to alert him to the dealings next door. He only laughed and said he would
never live in that neighborhood.
The older woman, who couldn’t
afford air conditioning, told the mayor she was afraid to keep her windows open during the
summer because of the activities next door. And knowing what was going on so close to her,
she couldn’t sleep.
Police eventually raided the
rental house and made some arrests, but Kluttz acknowledged that it probably was a
temporary solution to a bigger problem.
Kluttz told her story Wednesday at
the first official meeting of the Neighborhood Improvement Task Force. The task force
wasn’t there to address the problem of crime and drugs, Kluttz stressed. Rather, its
focus will be on neglected rental properties, absentee landlords and abandoned and
boarded-up houses that are blights on neighborhoods.
Kluttz said it’s difficult to
talk about how lovely and historic Salisbury is when even one citizen is afraid to go to
sleep at night in her neighborhood.
‘‘We’re not going
to try to solve all the world’s problems on this committee,’’ said
consultant Glenn Harbeck, who also is working with the Salisbury Vision 2020 Committee.
‘‘You have to put brackets around your work, if you’re going to have an
impact.’’
Harbeck led discussion at
Wednesday’s first meeting, which included the citizens task force appointed by
council and city staff members.
The citizens include the Rev.
Johnson Asibuo, James Donaldson, W.O.T. Fleming, Norman Ingold, Lou Manning, William
Peoples, Pat Sylvester, Vicky Tesh, Julius Waggoner and Norde Wilson.
Staff members included City
Manager David Treme, Police Chief Chris Herring, Fire Chief Sam Brady, Public Services
Director Vernon Sherrill and several other members of their respective departments.
Harbeck outlined the task
force’s mission as using ordinances, education and programs to improve housing in
Salisbury and the responsibilities of landlords and tenants. He warned that the task force
will be tackling ‘‘a huge problem and a complex problem’’ that may
challenge constitutional issues and legal precedents.
Sherrill said the task force must
look at changing city ordinances so the city can better deal with problem properties.
‘‘The tools are not
there currently to do what we want to do,’’ said Sherrill, who added that code
enforcement personnel write up several hundred properties for violations every years.
While they may look terrible,
Sherrill said as an example, a boarded-up property that is secure is pretty much off
limits to the city.
Jeff Youngblood, who serves as the
minimum housing inspector through the Fire Department, told of how some property owners
who are continually cited for violations make just enough improvement to deter the city
from coming to a final resolution on the properties.
He said he will have four
dilapidated properties coming to council in the near future that will be scheduled for
demolition. The city has been mowing and trying to keep these properties clean while
placing unpaid liens against the properties.
Wilson, a landlord himself, said
the city should investigate a ‘‘repeat offender rule’’ to deal more
quickly and effectively with properties that are constant problems.
Waggoner, who manages numerous
rental properties, said the city should use its water utility department as a tool for
better enforcement of housing standards. Water connections could be held back until
properties are in compliance, Waggoner suggested.
‘‘I think that’s
just a slam dunk thing we could do,’’ Waggoner added.
Youngblood said he also has
contacted Duke Power about the same kind of proposal – refusing power to a property
that’s not up to city standards.
But Youngblood acknowledged that
the city’s minimum standards are exactly that – minimum. Basically, a property
has to show that it has hot and cold running water, plumbing that doesn’t leak and a
roof that doesn’t leak to pass minimum housing inspection.
Wilson noted that beyond the
minimum standards, cleaning up or improving problem properties becomes more difficult. How
much paint has to come off a house before it’s no longer suitable? How many pounds
and pieces of trash must litter a yard before it constitutes a city nuisance? How many
spare tires have to be on the lawn?
Wilson added that a lot of the
problems come from tenants, not landlords. Wilson, Waggoner and Treme stressed the
importance of getting some kind of information to landlords and tenants about their
responsibilities for rental properties – and making them aware of the repercussions
if they don’t adhere to the rules.
Youngblood noted that the city
devised a landlord-tenant handbook in December 1995. It’s been an educational tool
that’s gone virtually unnoticed, he said. Its existence surprised many of the task
force members Wednesday, for example.
Wilson said that before he rents a
property he has a conference with the whole family, including the children of tenants.
They go over simple things such as the importance of getting the ‘‘green
monster’’ garbage containers off the street in a timely fashion.
Overall, Wilson outlines what he
expects from tenants in taking care of the property.
‘‘The real education
comes the first time you don’t abide by it,’’ Wilson added.
‘‘Then the hammer drops.’’
Sherrill suggested that the task
force may want to look at how contract agreements are drawn up between landlords and
tenants and maybe find some enforcement help through those contracts.
The task force members agreed to
meet for lunch on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Its next meeting is scheduled for
June 23 at City Hall. |
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