By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
SPENCER – Spencer town staff will ask aldermen to give them an additional six months to collect data and study ordinances before proposing how to regulate habitual offenders of the housing code.
The Spencer Board of Aldermen will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Town Manager Larry Smith will again host office hours starting at 6 tonight for any alderman who wants to discuss the agenda packet. Office hours are open to the public.
The board last month asked town staff to research claims of a perceived problem with code enforcement on rental properties and work on developing a proposal and timeframe for collecting data.
Aldermen also requested a report on existing tools and recommendations for possible new ways to handle rental property code violations.
Staff found in the past seven months, 14 properties had three or more code violations. Three properties were owner-occupied, 10 were rentals and one was uninhabitable due to a fire.
The data shows that 22 percent of the owner-occupied properties and 71 percent of the rental properties had three or more violations.
Staff will ask the board to give them six more months to collect data and study how other towns handle habitual offenders of minimum housing standards.
Also on Tuesday’s agenda:
• Rowan Rotary Club will make a presentation about the backpack food program at North Rowan Middle School
• The board will consider recoating downtown crosswalks, banners on Salisbury Avenue and an ordinance amendment regarding garbage carts.
• Smith will report on a new security agreement with the N.C. Transportation Museum, as well as other developments in the relationship between the museum and town.
• The next Small Town Main Street community meeting is at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, which will include a walking tour of the downtown. The public is invited.
• The board will receive public comment.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.