City Council amends overoccupancy code
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 09/15/2009
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The West Lafayette City Council voted Monday night to pass an ordinance amending rental housing code in West Lafayette, despite two motions to postpone voting.
The ordinance, proposed by Councilor Peter Bunder, D-District 2, was an attempt by the council to make rental housing code more clear in response to a statement by the Appellate court which stated the previous code was “ambiguous.”
One change made to the ordinance altered the fees and fines a landlord might incur. It also specified the creation of a “landlord certification program,” a program that would create incentives of reduced fees for participating landlords. Bunder said this idea was partially influenced by his daughter who would be going to Glasgow, Scotland.
“As a parent, you are concerned that your child will be safe in ‘the big city,’” Bunder said. He said a similar program exists there, which allowed an informed choice of housing.
“I think it would be a good thing to offer the same comfort to out-of-town parents,” Bunder said.
Concerns were raised about the ordinance during the meeting, leading to motions to postpone voting on it until the November and October City Council meetings, proposed by Councilors Steven Dietrich, R-At Large, and Gerry Keen, R-District 5, respectively.
Dietrich and Keen voiced concerns that the current ordinance had not been publicly available for more than a few days and therefore had not had sufficient citizen input.
“I think that this version is a lot better than a lot of the versions I have seen in the past,” Keen said. He also said it had not been available long enough to let landlords think about how changes in fees could affect rent.
“I don’t know that everyone’s had that opportunity to observe and digest this.”
Several landlords spoke in opposition to the ordinance at the meeting, saying that some of the steps the ordinance specifies for them to spot over-occupancy were impractical and would involve an uncomfortable level of interference with their tenants.
Loren King, principal and chief operating officer for Trinitas Ventures, a property management company in West Lafayette, said he had not seen the ordinance as it was passed until that day. He said they would now attempt to follow the city code.
“Unfortunately, as written, I think it’s really impossible,” King said. “We don’t want to be in the apartments more than necessary.”