Lawrence city commissioners gave preliminary approval Tuesday to an ordinance requiring registration of rental properties in single-family zoned areas with barely a peep from landlords who opposed the legislation.
Only James Dunn, president of Landlords of Lawrence, spoke about the ordinance. And though he didn't explicitly oppose it, he questioned its details.
Dunn's questions:
l Who gets access to the list of tenants to be maintained by landlords?
Assistant City Manager Dave Corliss said only the Department of Neighborhood Resources would have authority to look at the list, and then only to enforce zoning laws.
"I think we'll be very careful, as we have in the past, in enforcing with respect to privacy issues," Corliss said.
l Does the $25 licensing fee for each property cover the possible cost of having private contractors do the mandatory inspections?
"The licensing fee is a licensing fee; it's not an inspection fee," Corliss said. There shouldn't be additional cost to have public employees do the inspections, he said.
l Who will have input on creation of a "residential living" pamphlet to be given to each rental property tenant?
"We welcome all input," Corliss said. But Corliss added that details of how the ordinance will be enforced are still under consideration.
"We'll need some ramp-up time for budgeting and staffing of this," he said.
And the city is still trying to determine if and how it will allow private inspections of rental property.
"We need to ensure their qualifications, and independence, to inspect property," Corliss said. "It shouldn't be that somebody can go down to the copy center and make a certification."
Commissioners approved the ordinance, 4-0. Commissioner Mike Rundle was absent because of a death in his family. Final approval of the ordinance is scheduled to be considered at the April 3 meeting.
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