The city's new rental-registration ordinance will go forward Feb. 1, despite some last-minute grumbling Tuesday by a Lawrence landlord.
"It's unfair to the people who own these houses," Joe Patterson told the Lawrence City Commission. "I think this commission needs to rethink the ordinance."
City commissioners decided in March to begin licensing and inspecting rental homes in single-family-zoned areas as a way of tracking and enforcing the new three-person limit on the number of unrelated people who can live together in such homes.
Those properties must be licensed, at a cost of $25 a year for each home, by Feb. 1. With licensing comes an inspection to make sure the home is habitable; it will be inspected once every three years afterward.
The ordinance was on Tuesday's city commission agenda so commissioners could approve amendments:
l The ordinance will be changed to reflect a new state law that landlords cannot provide the city with a list of tenant names unless 30 days have passed since a public health or safety violation has been cited against that particular property.
l Clarification that registration does not apply to group homes, adult care homes or other institutional uses allowed in single-family areas.
Patterson, who has owned rental homes in Lawrence since 1985, took the opportunity to try to renew debate about the ordinance's existence. He said the fees and inspections mean rental homes will be kept to a higher standard than owner-occupied homes.
"Those other houses can be dilapidated and run-down," Patterson said, "and I'm still going to be required to pay a $25 fee and have my house inspected."
City commissioners said those owner-occupied homes are still subject to environmental codes, enforced on a complaint basis. They unanimously approved the amendments.
Officials said 142 houses have registered. Landlords who don't get a license for their homes could be fined from $225 to $1,000 daily for the violations.
"We're more interested in compliance than dragging out into a full-blown court case," Assistant City Manager Dave Corliss said.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.