Council to discuss inspection
fees
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
On Friday, a public meeting will be held at West
Lafayette City Hall to discuss a new ordinance that would increase inspection
fees for single family dwellings in West Lafayette.
The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. in the courtroom
of the West Lafayette City Hall.
The ordinance, which would raise inspection fees
for single family dwellings in West Lafayette with three or more unrelated
residents, has sparked controversy among West Lafayette residents.
Jim McCarthy, the president of the West Lafayette
Housing Association, said that he does not support the ordinance.
"As you can imagine, I'm against it," said McCarthy.
"There are plenty of regulations that are in place right now that are
sufficient."
The ordinance would only increase inspection fees
for single family rentals in West Lafayette, but not for apartment complexes.
According to McCarthy, single family dwellings
that house unrelated residents will be the only homes faced with the
fee increase. A house that is the home of a family, however, will not
face higher prices.
"It's definitely biased against student renters,"
said McCarthy.
West Lafayette mayor Sonya Margerum said 90 percent
of housing problems are caused in converted housing and that it is not
the large apartment complexes that the city is having problems with.
Brad Windler, West Lafayette city council member,
said that the new ordinance was proposed to protect students against
bad landlords and to provide students with health and safety security.
McCarthy said that this is not the case.
"They are saying they have the health and safety
of students in mind and that's fine," said McCarthy. "But if they really
have that in mind, they need to inspect every unit, including apartments."
The ordinance was passed by the city council on
its first reading, 5-2, on April 9. After today's public hearing, the
council will vote on the ordinance on its second and final reading at
the city council meeting on May 7.
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