HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-RHAC-1990 Rental Housing Commission Minutes - February 28, 1990
1. Persons attending: Name Phone (w) Phone (h)
John Efroymson 274 3242 272 1034
Stephanie Fried 273 2492
John Schroeder 273 5990
Mark Finkelstein 272 4000
William Kandel 277 4408
Carol Mallison 277 4500 277 1155
Arlene Richardson 273 1511 277 1637
Paul Pastolitas
Dennis Wille 277 4500 277 0878
Neil Golder 273-8025
Ben Nichols 272 1713 10
r? a 273- 7Ei7w
2. Remarks by Mayor Ben Nichols. The Commission should consider two things.
First, it can take concrete actions. It can for example communicate to
tenants about their rights.
Second, it can develop a research agenda and make recommendations, such as
investigate the application of a Madison WI ordinance concerning tenant
complaints, consider the role of INNS, and consider the longer range issue
of how the city might best enhance the supply of affordable housing.
3. Meeting times. Once per month, second Wednesday, 5-7 PM. Initially March
14, April 11, May 9.
4. Vice Chair: Dennis Wille.
5. Consideration of the Charge. Discussion suggested the implication in the
Charge that the Commission has autonomy in such specific items as the
commissioning of studies and the dissemination of information, and over
other items specified in the Charge; and an advisory role otherwise and in
such additional items as are channeled to it for consideration by the City
Council.
6. Remarks on the Rental Housing Task Force Recommendations. There was concern
that the members of the Commission get access to the full report of the
Rental Housing Task Force and other background information. Efroymson will
cause the full report to be distributed to Commission members; and members
can get access to other documents including Task Force report appendices,
subcommittee reports, other reports produced by the Planning Department,
and a study by Katherine Evans of alternative ways to finance a housing
trust fund.
7. Agenda for March 14 Meeting. Commission members will come prepared to
discuss their own priority areas; and their sense of priority areas for the
Commission collectively.
RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION
March 14, 1990
Minutes
Present: John Efroymson, John Schroeder, Mark Finkelstein, Carol Mallison,Pierre Clavel,
William Kandel
Absent: Dennis Wille, Stephanie Fried,Arlene Richardson
Members of the public: Larry Beck, Neal Howard, Jeanne Fudala, Stu Carpenter, Roger Beck,
Steven Hertzberg, Angie LaPenotiere
1. The minutes dated 2/28/90 were approved, except that P. Clavel also attended. Introductions
followed.
2. Comments from public: L. Beck suggests that the terms "Tenant and Landlord Rights and
Responsibilities" be considered for printed materials or information to the public,rather than just
"Tenant's Rights."
3. After meeting with Assistant City Attorney,Pat Kennedy,J. Efroymson reported the following
issues for our consideration:
—Pat Kennedy and City Attorney, Chuck Guttman, would like to give a formal presentation at next
month's meeting; committee approved.
—Certificates of Compliance are not being routinely fulfilled; some people don't know what they
are; should be completed every 3 years. Should we require that they be posted in each building?
Why not charge a fine for non-compliance,rather than a fee for applying for this Certificate?
—Consider sponsoring Landlord/Tenant forums regarding education, issues, rights, responsibilities,
and communication.
—Creating a rental registry; what information can we ask for from Landlords? Much discussion
regarding whether a registry is either appropriate or helpful.
—It was suggested that we meet with Building Commissioner, Eric Datz, and others to talk about
code enforcement: what is the law; what is enforceable?
—Will any changes to the City Ordinance be recommended as a result of this commission's work?
—Copies of the Landlord/Tenant statute for Madison, Wis. will be sent to commission members.
4. Committee members suggested the following Priorities/Working Groups:
—Create/implement City's Housing Policy; two 1987 reports recommend policy and copies of these
will be sent to commission members (consider that these reports are already outdated).
—Housing Trust Fund; how can we get monies into this account? A copy of the City Planning
Department's report on HTF revenue sources will be sent to commission members.
—Encourage private and public sector contributions towards creating affordable housing.
—Create a rental registry.
—Give priority to affordable housing production vs. more regulation.
—Get Cornell and IC directly involved as part of the solution to affordable housing for community.
—Create a Tenant's Association; ask them what their need is; include renters outside the City.
5. We have $2,000.00 in our budget. Committee approves using $800.00 of this to hire one Cornell
student; P. Clavel will arrange this. Possibly hire a second through Southside.
6. April 26, conference on housing; call J. Efroymson for details.
Next meeting: Wednesday, April 11, 1990, City Hall. Call J. Efroymson if you can't attend.
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Respectfully Submitted:
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RENTAL MOUSING COMMISSION s a 0n coded
April 11, 1990 t'iu,/ q /q yd
Minutes l
Present: Pierre Clavel,John Efroymson, Mark Finkelstein,Stephanie Fried, William
Kandel, Carol Mallison,John Schroeder.
Absent: Arlene Richardson,Dennis Wile.
Members of the public: Jerry Dietz, Fred Rolfe, Mrs. Fred Rolfe, William Pardee, Barbara
Pardee, Sharon McGracen,Oron Ledger,Timothy Terpening, Philip White Jr.
Gordon Van Nedergnen,Jim Rider, Mark Waldohaag, C.J. Anagnust, Larry Beck,
Neal Howard, Angie LePenotiere,Peter Flynn,Ronald Battaglia, Pat Howard, Stu
Carpenter.
No agenda prepared. •
1. Mark Finkelstein suggested that the minutes dated 3/14/90 be amended to note the
following observation by 1NHS: the recent addition of student housing in the
community has had a positive impact on housing for low income people by providing
them with more housing alternatives a s s fttr{ev, b hove f ro:.� lower- cost wo 44/4110“,P7
hottSiny , i$41-0 new Srucetl" tieus�n .
2. Presentation by Pat Kennedy and Chuck Guttman, who responded to eight questions
compiled by John Efroymson (included with these minutes). Purpose is to inform
the commission of legal issues related to possible future directions and actions.
Q1. Not aware of precedents for a rental registry. City has authority to ask for
copies of lease to further a city purpose(such as a study of rental housing.)
Difference between requesting and requiring; the latter raises objections from
landlords and tenants on privacy and Fifth Amendment grounds. Depends whether
information requested identifies landlord's or tenant's name, address, etc. Suggested
we talk to Building Department about this hitch to find a way to ensure all rental units
are covered. Information could be obtained by a simple questionnaire. Some of this
information may be available at Tax Assessor's office.
Q2. Question remains whether towns have authority to impose impact fees according
to state law. Would be difficult to show how new development affects the availability
of housing, but this connection must be clearly quantified. Attorneys will look into
this further.
Q3. No problem with legality of fees for code compliance. Novarr is not suing the
city on this issue. Fee must be reasonably related to nature of violation. Current fee
structure provides little incentive for landlords to comply and to thereby reduce costs
placed on City for building inspections. Issue is on agenda of the City Budget and
Administrative committee. Pointed out by members of the public that landlords are
being punished by tenants' "youthful behavior".
Q4. Certificates of Compliance currently issued every three years. The Building
Department is significantly behind on this timetable. To move to two or one years
would place more of a burden on this department which simply does not have the
staff to ensure compliance.
Q5. Posting of Certificates of Compliance not currently required. City could require
this by having Common Council revise the housing code.
Q6. Arrangement involves 30 year lease by City to Novarr,at the end of which
property reverts back to City. Possible for City to make this kind of arrangement for (J
other properties.
Q7. Some restrictions placed on city property sales: no restrictive covenants based
upon race, for example. Otherwise, no limit to what the city can require from buyers
of city property. However,the placing of reversionary interests, renovation
restrictions,use restrictions,etc.on property significantly affects its value.
Q8. Madison housing code formalizes what is scattered throughout the NYS and
Ithaca codes. For instance,Madison code stipulates specific rent adjustments for
certain code violations. In Ithaca,the tenant goes to a small claims court and a judge
decides both whether the code has been violated and the amount of the fine. We may
want to investigate how the Madison code works administratively. It may be quite
cumbersome.
3. Lawrence Kestenbaum,a Cornell graduate student,has been hired to work on RHC
projects for the summer, beginning in June.
4. Selection of topics and members for subcommittees:
A. Information Gathering: Schroeder(Chair), Kandel
B. Policy Subcommittee: Efroymson-(Chair.),Clavel ,-
C. Housing Production: Finkelstein4Chai$,Mallison (Chc i r)
Subcommittees will meet before next meeting. Subcommittee Chair should notify
the public of future subcommittee meetings by notice on City Hall bulletin board and
by contacting John Efroymson, who will in turn call Neal Howard, a voluntary
liaison to the landlord community.
Next meeting: Wednesday,May 9, 1990, City Hall.
Please call John Efroymson if you cannot attend.
Respectfully submitted:
William Kandel
1
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RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION
May 9, 1990 uc [ '�E
Minutes
Present: John Efroymson, John Schroeder, Mark Finkelstein, Carol Mallison,
William Kandel, Pierre Clavel
Absent: Stephanie Fried, Arlene Richardson, Dennis Wille (who has resigned)
Members of the public: Ashley Wilson, Robert Balder, Larry Beck, Tim Teipening,
Sharon Gracen, O. J. Anagnost, Tom Hoard, Jason Fane
Staff: Larry Kestenbaum
1. 4/11/90 Minutes. Corrections: Mallison (not Finkelstein) chairs the Housing
Production Working Group; Clavel (not Efroymson) chairs the Policy Working
Group; and the statement in item "1." should read, "the recent addition
of student housing in the community has had a positive impact on housing for
low income people by providing them with more housing alternatives, as
students move from lower cost, downtown housing, into new student housing."
2. Comments from Chair. Dennis Wile has resigned from the commission, and so
a replacement is needed to represent the First Ward.
Chair suggests that that groups referred to in the 4/11/90 minutes as
"subcommittees" be instead "working groups," whose discussions are closed to
the public. Mallison supports this° idea, stating that frank discussion of
preliminary ideas is difficult in a fishbowl atmosphere. There is consensus
support for the "working group" concept.
Chair suggests that public comment be limited to a particular period or periods
during commission meetings. Finkelstein says that the ideas of having working
groups closed to the public and of limiting public comment to specific
times are in themselves reasonable, but he hopes the commission will be open
to a full spectrum of public opinion. Commission members decide that public
comment will be limited to an approximate 15 minute,period at the beginning of
each meeting and an approximate 10 minute period at the end of each meeting.
3. Comments from Public. Sharon Gracen felt that the commission meeting agenda
should be available to the public 48 hours before each meeting. Larry Beck
felt the public should have the opportunity to correct statements by commission
members at any point during a meeting. Tim Teipening felt that the commission
was pursuing a political agenda to impose rent control, and that the commission
resulted from last fall's election campaigns; Mallison and Schroeder expressed
disagreement with this assessment.
4. Correspondence to Commission. Assistant City Attorney Pat Kennedy suggests
that the commission meet with Building Commissioner Eric Datz. Efroymson
reads letter from a landlord to his tenants suggesting that higher tax assess-
ments will cause rents to rise. Mallison says that new assessments can cause
rents to rise if the rise in the assessment is above the average.
5. Staffing Situation. Larry Kestenbaum will work as a staff member for the com-
mission this summer. This will use $600 of the commission's 1990 budget,
leaving $1400. It is still possible that the commission can get another staff
member through the Southside Community Center.
6. Renters' Rights and Responsibilities. Chair asks which working group will
work to get information about renters' rights and responsibilities to renters.
Mallison says that numerous publications and pamphlets containing such informa-
tion are already available. Efroymson replies that any given publication may
be incomplete or may not be targeted to Ithaca, and that part of the problem
is getting such publications into the hands of tenants. Schroeder suggests
that 1) the commission try to get an an article or supplement summarizing
tenants' rights and responsibilities printed in the Grapevine or the Ithaca
•
Times early next fall, and 2) the commission acquire and seek to distribute
the best of the existing pamphlets to students next fall. It is decided that
the Information Gathering Working Group will oversee this effort.
7. Working Group Reports.
A. Information Gathering Working Group. (Schroeder reporting)
-
Initial goals:
1) Investigate existing rental registry models. Communicate with cities that
already have rental registries in effect; ask for copies of their ordi-
nances, and ask city officials how well rental registries have worked.
Find out which procedures and approaches have been most successful, and
what problems can be avoided.
2) Investigate currently-existing local sources of rental market information.
What are these sources? What publically-available information does each
source have? How reliable is each source? Etc. Potential sources include
Ithaca's Building Department, the Tompkins County Assessment Office, the
city and county planning departments, the Cornell Dean of Students Office,
the local Board of Realtors, local landlords, and the affordable housing
committee of the Chamber of Commerce.
3) Devise an "instrument" for gaining annual, reliable statistics about the
state of rental housing in Ithaca, including rent levels and vacancy rates.
It should be possible to break down the statistics according to unit size
(one-bedroom units vs. two-bedroom units vs. three-bedroom units, etc.) ,
and according to specific city neighborhoods (Collegetown vs. South Hill
vs. Southside vs. West Hill, etc.). The statistics would allow year-by-
year comparisons of how Ithaca's rental housing market is changing, and
• would allow the city to gauge how its policies are affecting this market
and to determine what new policies are needed. The instrument for gaining
this information would probably combine existing sources of information
with newly-devised sources.
4) Test possible information-gathering techniques this summer by assembling
rental housing statistics for a limited area of the city. Since many
students leave Ithaca during the summer, it is probably best to target
this summer study on a non-student neighborhood. Southside has been
suggested as a good choice.
B. Policy Working Group. (Clavel reporting)
Discussions so far:
1) The working group has looked at Santa Monica's housing policy, put together
by a citizen commission, and will look at the policies of other cities.
2) Sources of funding for affordable housing have been discussed (Community
Reinvestment Act, savings and loan bail-out, etc.) .
3) The working group is inviting local people with experience in housing issues
to meet with it. The idea is to have a series of informal dialogues about
specific housing issues.
C. Housing`Production Working Group. (Mal 1i son reporting)
The working group is concentrating on how to create affordable housing, and
on how city policies may either inhibitor promote affordable housing. Areas
of concern:
1) How will the Housing Trust Fund work?
2) Can affordable housing be built on the Pogo Parcel?
3) How can the city encourage the inclusion of affordable housing in new
development projects?
4) Are current city policies restricting affordable housing?
5) How can private and public development of housing units be encouraged?
6) How can housing development in existing buildings be encouraged?
7) Can affordable housing be built in Southwest Park?
8) What is the future of West Village?
9) Can the savings and loan bail-out help fund affordable housing?
10) How can we encourage employers to provide housing for their employees?
11) What is the impact of on affordable housing?
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8. Next Meeting. /
Efroymson will be out of town on the next scheduled meeting date (which would
be on June 13). It is decided that the next meeting will be on June 20.
9. Comments from Public.
Larry Beck felt that any housing policy adopted by the city could include
a statement of renters' rights and responsibilities. He felt it would be
useful for the working groups to have public input. He wondered if it would
be possible to grant variances for affordable housing creation. Jason Fane
asked what the numbers gained from a possible rental registry would be used for.
Schroeder replied that the city could use such information to help determine
housing policies, and Mallison added that such information could help private
developers plan the location and character of new housing developments.
Dutifully submitted: / ')
(9-%-
John Schroeder
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CITY OF ITHACA
RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION
MINUTES OF MEETING OF JUNE 20, 1990
1.. 5 Efroymson IN ATTENDANCE. Commissioners: John Efro (Chair);
Y ( )
Carol Mallison; John Schroeder; Mark Finkelstein (recording secretary pro tem). Absent:
William Kandel; Pierre Clavel; Stephanie Fried; Arlene Richardson.
Staff: Lawrence Kestenbaum
Public: Tim Terpening; Larry Beck; Myfanwy E. Mattes; Barbara Blanchard.
0 MINUTES. The minutes of the meeting of May 9 adopted subject to the amendment of
para. C.11 to read: "What is the impact of county assessments on affordable housing?"
PUBLIC COMMENT. Mr. Terpening mentioned that the trash tag fine is greater per
bag for duplex and residential properties than it is for single family homes. This seems
unfair and could affect the affordability of rental housing. .
'..% NEW COMMISSIONERS. JE mentioned that DW had not submitted a formal resigna-
tion but that it would be forthcoming. MF observed that AR has not attended since the first
meeting. If AR cannot be an active commissioner, the RHC may wish to consider filling her
seat, which is slated for a non-profit organization representative, with a representative of
Cornell's Office of Residence Life.
JE mentioned that he had received suggestions from Common Council member Barbara
Blanchard (First Ward)of First Ward residents to replace Dennis Wille. They arc: Mary
Louise Battisti, Executive Director of the Ithaca Housing Authority. Alternatively,
Elizabeth Roscioli, Site Manager of Titus Towers, or George Franz, a staff planner for the
Town of Ithaca. Memo from Ms. Blanchard attached hereto.
JE added that it is important to name new commissioners who will be willing to invest them-
- selves in the Commission's work.
CITY OF ITHACA
RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION
MINUTES OF MEETING OF JUNE 20, 1990
Page Two
WORKING GROUP REPORTS.
ItJdeISUPPLY SIDE GROUP. CM reported on the group's work. Two meetings been
held since the last Commission meeting. The various issues set forth in the May minutes
were examined to determine which could be worked on most quickly, and to divide respon-
sibility for the various issues among the group members. Larry Beck will be invited to
attend the next working group meeting and advise it on how development is affected by
city policies.
MF has spoken with City Planning Director Thys Van Cort to ascertain plans for the
recently purchased Pogo Parcel(a 2-acre site behind the P&C on Hancock St. in the
Northside). It was report that 2/3 of the site is being considered for housing and 1/3 for a
park. State or federal subsidies would be needed to make the housing affordable. Thys
envisions INHS/Mutual Housing involvement. MF will explore policies that restricts the
creation of affordable housing.
CM is looking into the creation of housing on the upper floors of buildings on the
Commons, and is coordinating with other committees exploring this possibility.
JE is looking into the status of plans for Southwest Park and West Village. Ile mentioned
that Southwest Park is currently on the back burner because the Planning and
Development Committee of Common Council decided not to allocate any staff time to the
examination of this issue.
N
♦POLICY GROUP. Has met with Doug Dylla, past director of INIIS, regarding avenues the
city may consider as to policy. MF attended a meeting of the group. Suggestion: RIIC
should have advisory capacity on legislation affecting affordability in the same way that
Conservation Advisory Council advises on matters affecting the local environment. This
group won't meet again until September. They wish to talk with Thys Van Cort, Cornell
V.P. Jay Morley, Pat Posten (Tompkins County Affordable Housing Coordinator), Chuck
Geisler, Bill Myers re the Community Reinvestment Act, and Chris and Hazel Grecne-(sp?),
Hobart professors, regarding ways in which capital leaves the community.. '
D INFORMATION GATHERING GROUP. LK distributed a list a college student populations
in U.S. cities. Ithaca ranked 8th by percentage of students in population. The group has
met twice for purposes of determining LK's research project.
•
CITY OF ITHACA
RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION
MINUTES OF MEETING OF JUNE 20, 1990
Page Three
LK will study rental housing conditions in the Southside. This area was chosen because
the study will be conducted over the summer, and as a non-student area conditions should
be relatively little affected by the absence of students in Ithaca during the summer.
The goal is to determine: the average rent for all units; the rent for 1, 2 and 3 BR units; the
vacancy rate for the area, and the percentage of units with valid Certificates of
Compliance. LK will also try to obtain information from tenants as to last year's rent in
comparison.
More generally, LK will explore various information sources with the goal of working
toward a permanent mechanism for getting information for the entire city.
LK has already obtained certain information . In working with the Assessment Office, he
has determined that there are 281 residential properties within the designated area. He
also worked with Cornell's Off-Campus Housing Office regarding Certificates of
Compliance. Of the 281 properties, 146 were in compliance. Most not in compliance were
home-owner properties. The properties contained 428 housing units, of which 289 were
rental units. 139 of the properties were owner-occupied. LK found that the rate of compli-
ance rises with the number of units in a property.
There are a large number of rental properties where the landlord lives on the premises or
in a nearby house. Many are small-scale owners.
LK will send out a questionnaire, seeking relatively limited information: #of BR's, whether
occupied, the rent, whether heat is included, an indication of general tenant satisfaction,
and the rent one year ago.
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FINAL COMMENTS.AReference was made to the fact that the public at meetings of the
Commission is regularly composed almost entirely of landlords, with few if any renters. MF
mentioned that to renters, their status as such may be only one aspect of their lives, where-
as for landlords it may well represent their entire livelihood, and their level of interest is
thus understandably high. Anxiety among landlords was aroused at the beginning of the
Commission's work because issues like rent registry and rent control were being discussed
freely, and it was not clear to landlords that these were merely topics of discussion rather
than a reflection of any final decision or recommendation by the Commission. Thereafter,
statements by certain Commissioners, such as JS, to the effect that while he might well
favor rent registry he did not at this time favor rent control, were very constructive in
allaying landlord concerns. On the other hand, one of the landlords in attendance had
brought a recent Grapevine column by Mayor Nichols in which he had again stated his
interest in "rent stabilization". Landlords can be expected to react nervously to such state-
ments.
RECEIVED JUL 241990
CITY OF ITHACA
RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION
Minutes of meeting of July 18, 1990
In attendance: Commissioners John Efroymson (chair) , Pierre Clavel, Mark
Finkelstein, Carol Mallison, John Schroeder. Absent: William Kandell,
Stephanie Fried, Arlene Richardson.
Staff: Larry Kestenbaum Public: Lila Eidi (WTKO)
Minutes. The minutes of the meeting of June 20 were adopted, with
revisions.'
Report of the Information Committee: John Efroymson reported on the 289
unit Southside rental housing survey. The Commission approved a three-part
instrument: a mail questionaire to landlords; phone survey to tenants;
door-to-door followup to tenants. As approved, the survey would focus
mainly on rent levels and r.eppa#v-seems; the Commission rejected the
suggestion of a more elaborate, smaller, sample survey.
Report of the Supply Side Committee. Finkelstein and Mallison commented on
the Mayor's recent Grapevine piece on affordable housing: a mild
disagreement with the suggestion there is no evidence that recent
oversupply is not reducing rents. The Commission agreed to the suggestion
the Mayor be invited to attend a future meeting of the Commission for
informational purposes.
The Committe upports the recommN dation now before the'-Charter and
Ordinance Commit a that affordable housing be added to the criteria for
granting a zoning ordinance.
s" last paragraph should be stricken altogether and should read instead: The Commission
requests input to the proposal now before the Planning and Development Committee
regarding the addition of new criteria for granting a zoning variance. Specifically the
Commission recommends that 'affordable housing' be included as a variance criteria."
With these corrections, the minutes for 7/18/90 were approved.
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City of Ithaca t, y ,
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Rental Housing Commission scp fi, ,�> i;c,f. t
Minllt eS of Meeting of AllguSt 8, 1990
Present: John Efroymson (t ), Carol Mallison (recording secretary pro tern),
John Schroeder, Mark Finkelstein.
Absent: William Kandel, Pierre Clavel, Stephanie Fried.
Staff: Lawrence Kestenbaum.
Public: Tim Terpening, Larry Beck, Ben Boynton.
The minutes for 7/18/90 were corrected as follows:
s-■ minutes for 6/20/90 were corrected to reflect that the last paragraph should be identified as
comments made specifically by M. Finkelstein.
14 first main paragraph should have "repair needs" stricken, and add instead "security deposits
and vacancy rates."
33.4 last paragraph should be stricken altogether and should read instead: "The Commission
requests input to the proposal now before the Planning and Development Committee
regarding the addition of new criteria for granting a zoning variance. Specifically the
Commission recommends that 'affordable housing' be included as a variance criteria."
With these corrections, the minutes for 7/18/90 were approved.
Comments from the public: use of the term "unit" in the Southside survey
was clarified as meaning a single apartment regardless of bedroom size;
a building might have two or more rental units, or could be a single family
rental unit.
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Following : -- - . - - - resignation, the Commission now has two
vacancies, one from the First Ward for a tenant or homeowner, and one
for someone representing a non-profit agency . Discussion of
recommendations for filling these slots included: recognition of
previous recommendations made by Barbara Blanchard; a request by
M. Finkelstein to include a Cornell authority; a request by
J. Efroymson to encourage minority representation; and a reminder by
J. Schroeder that the person selected must attend meetings regularly .
Any suggestions must be received by Mayor Ben Nichols no later than
August 24 .
The following communication from the public was reviewed:
nw a letter from Marjorie Olds regarding a Syracuse housing code policy that
requires Security Deposits to be held by the City.
��► a letter from John Vigorita regarding the Commission's meeting date.
~ materials provided bttPam14Zinger, from Cornell Off-Campus Housing,
regarding their y p ssed on to J. Schroeder.
u� a tenant complaint, which the Commission discussed and agreed that, in
the future, such complaints should be referred to either Legal Service
office, or INHS, but not to the Commission.
The Supply Side Creported having met once and their discussion
included the possibility of developing a Community Security Deposit loan fund.
In addition, the Commission discussed recent developments with the Pogo
parcel.
L. Kestenbaum reported for the Information tom and presented copies of
the results of the Southside survey, as completed so far, dated 8/7/90. Pertinent
issues of discussion regarding both the mailed survey and the tenant phone
questionnaire included:
lir several corrections in the totals for the printed results.
there should be a question identifying if the unit is furnished or not.
«' the questionnaire should identify if the renter is a student.
li' questions regarding: what does the "vacancy rate" mean and what exactly
are we trying to measure?; suggestions included:
km• whether there is a choice of units;
a■ evidence that we have a "healthy" vacancy rate;
r• measuring significant differences between summer vacancies vs.
the rest of the year;
a■ making sure we measure the rate at the same time each year.
The overall feeling was that this survey and its results should be considered a
learning experience and used to decide how we can do a better, more accurate
job next time.
Finally, the tiFt reported that Valerie Grinston has been hired to complete
the tenant survey for Southside.
`Further comment from the public: Larry Becky reported on correspondence by him, to and from
Mayor Ben Nichols, regarding Nichols' Grapevine article on Affordable 9-lousing", dated
7/11-17/90.
The Commission's next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 13, at 5:00 P171
(Happy Birthday to both J. Efroymson and L. Kestenbaum) and all future meetings are
proposed to be scheduled for the second Thursday of the month.
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City of Ithaca �`
Rental Housing Commission '5 („i>
Minutes of Meeting of September 13, 1990
Present: John Efroymson, Carol Mallison,Pierre Gavel,John Schroeder,Mark
Finkelstein,William Kandel, Stephanie Fried ) P c Z F
Staff: Valerie Grinston
Absent: No absences
The Public: Tim Terpening1 13 =\<
Comments Comments fro the Mayor
Mayor Ben Nic ols mentioned the possibility of developing affordable housing at the Pogo
Site. The city owns the land and is considering rental unitgtoowner units,or a combination
of both. Mutual housing is also a possibility. The Southmark Site is expected to be held
up for at least a year before anything can be done with it. Also,Deirdra Silverman is
producing a"Tenants Rights and Responsibilities" handbook. Mayor Nickols expressed
concern that he had not received any specific proposals from the Commission. He ,✓
reemphasized his interest in a rental registry system. Mark Finkelstein expressed concerns � 64
over the cost of such information; Nickols suggested the information could come from the
Building Department. t`,1''7 e f
k''
The minutes of 8/8 /90 were approved with minor corrections �'r e,r
\ i r�"r1 `,a ef
A question of Bill Kandel's move to the thiward came up. John Efroymson will
investigate.
John Efroymson noted that the landlords he has spoken with have been generally receptive
to the idea of gathering information to support a housing policy.
Information Gathering Working Group
Southside Survey- First,thanks go to Mark Finkelstein for providing housing for Larry
Kestenbaum when he was here finishing the survey. Valerie Grinston noted that the
response went fairly smoothly for the telephone survey and less so for the door-to-door
survey. The main concern expressed by renters appeared to be high rents. Survey results
will be sent soon by Larry Kestenbaum. Mark Finkelstein cautioned commission members
not to extrapolate too much on the basis of this limited survey.
Supply Side Working Group
No meetings have been held and there is nothing to report.
Policy Working Group
No meetings have been held and there is nothing to report.
No comments from the public.
Respectfully Submitted,
William Kandel
/V\v e-r,7.3 11- r
RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION
October 18, 1990 /1f,
c /'°✓CcL da✓. {S J
Minutes
Present: J. Efroymson, J. Schroeder, M. Finkelstein, C. Mallison, W. Kandel,
P. Clavel, P. Zinder
r
Members of the Public: L. Beck, T. Teipening
1. 9/13/90 Minutes.
Corrections: 1) Members of the public included L. Beck.
2) Mayor Nichols has not changed his name to Nickols.
3) Commissioner P. Zinder was present.
4) W. Kandel has moved to the fifth ward, not the third.
5) Southwest Park site, not South Park.
6) Corrections to the 8/8/90 minutes are as follows:
a) Arlene Richardson resigned, not Laberta Glasser.
b) The bodies referred to as committees are
actually working groups.
c) P. Zinder provided apartment complex lists,
rather than a housing survey.
d) While J. Schroeder is indeed honorable and worthy,
it is not necessary to refer to him as "the J.
Schroeder".
The minutes were approved with the above corrections.
2. Report From Mark Finkelstein About Proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment.
M. Finkelstein reported about a change to the zoning ordinance being con-
sidered by the Planning and Development Committee of Common Council. The
change would provide new criteria for the Board of Zoning Appeals to use
when considering whether area variances should be granted. Finkelstein
expressed the view that affordable housing should be one of these criteria.
Other commission members agreed, and authorized Mr. Finkelstein, on behalf
of the commission, to send a memo to the mayor, the city attorney, the
assistant city attorney, the BZA and the P&D Committee. The memo is to
suggest a new criterion: "The requested variance will foster the creation
of affordable housing."
3. Report From John Efroymson About Visit of Burlington, Vermont Housing
Expert Brenda Torpy.
Torpy says dealing with affordable housing questions and tenant rights issues
is a slow process. She says it's very important to get info about rights
and responsibilities to tenants. Also important is sufficient city staff.
She feels a rental registry would have assisted in Burlington affordable
housing efforts. She thinks that for maximum effectiveness, not-for-profit
housing organizations must be an integral part of the city governmental,
process. She says Burlington has an ordinance requiring developers who
tear down housing to replace it, or contribute to a housing trust fund.
4. Status of Tenants' Rights and Responsibilities Brochure.
This project is now in limbo, partly due to rapid staff turn-over
in the Planning Department.
(continued)
5. Working Group Reports.
a) Supply-Side: Will buy-out at West Village terminate affordable
housing there?
b) Information: Southside report is finished (see discussion below).
P. Zinder will be a new member of this working group.
c) Policy: No report.
6. Southside Survey Results: Where From Here?
The commissioners examined former staff member L. Kestenbaum's final
Southside Rental Housing Survey report. Several apparent discrepancies
in the report's figures were pointed out; J. Efroymson is to call Mr.
Kestenbaum to iron these out. M. Finkelstein noted that, according to
the survey, 99% of tenants are either satisfied or very satisfied, and
that the rent increase of 700 of the apartments was below the rate of
inflation. W. Kandel noted, though, that the most frequent complaint
concerned the amount of rent. J. Efroymson pointed out that, according
to the survey, the percent of rent increase was highest for units with
one bedroom, and progressively lower as the number of bedrooms increased.
M. Finkelstein stated his feeling that the survey should be regarded as
a learning exercise, and that the figures in the report should be cited
with caution. J. Schroeder agreed that the survey was a learning exer-
cise, and therefore far from perfect, but stated that the survey's
numerical results nevertheless had real value. He noted that some of
the survey's figures fell into clear patterns, and that the presence
of such patterns increased one's confidence in the results. He stated
his belief that a complete understanding of the survey results could
only be gained if one had similar figures for other years, so trends over
time could be identified.
The Information Working Group is to meet to decide where to go from here
with the survey results.
Cheerfully submitted,
' k
John Schroeder
s• •' Mee-/i.^� if
•
CITY OF ITHACA ��G�Q�
RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION ION r fri) ,��
Minutes of Meeting of December 13, 1990
Present: John Efroymson, Pierre Clavel, Mark Finkelstein,
Stephanie Fried, Carol Mallison, John Schroeder, Pam Zinder.
Absent: Valerie Grinston, William Kandel.
Public: Timothy Terpening, Steven Erhardt.
Guest Speaker: Myra Malkin.
Minutes: Some corrections and additions to the minutes from
November 15, 1990, included the issue that tenant' s complaints
were discussed at length at the last meeting, but was not
reflected in the minutes. Discussion of a complaint file and a
mediation panel consisting of tenants and landlords was also
•
mentioned.
Regarding the Southside Survey: Discussion at the last meeting
on whether the survey was valid, invalid, or a survey or census.
According to Prof. Linda Jacobson, she had serious reservations
about the methodology, but did not find it to be completely
invalid. Minutes were approved with corrections.
Meeting: Myra Malkin from Neighborhood Legal Services spoke
with us regarding concerns that she sees from landlords and
tenants. One of. the biggest problems from Ms. Malkin' s
perspective was that tenants did not always know where to go
regarding rights and responsibilities. Reading a brochure is not
always helpful because it is not necessarily the most natural
way. How do you make the written word readable?
Neighborhood Legal Services deals with the population that falls
at or below 125% of the federal poverty line. Some of the
problems that this segment of the population has is as follows:
1. Rental payment and structure. Not always easy for people to
pay rent at the beginning of the month. Low income people do not
always have the entire rent money at the beginning of the rental
period. People who have the least money, pay more late fees.
There is no statutory limits on late fees.
2. Fluctuating incomes. People who work parttime, have hours
that may vary. Difficult to plan. Tenants who receive public
assistance depend on checks that may be late. The public
assistance budgeting system is very complicated.
3. The warranty of habitability. Low income people trade off
habitability for affordability. Inadequate heating is the most
frequent problem.
4. Lifestyles of tenants and housekeeping problems. Many
tenants move into dirty apartments. Gives negative message to
tenant on what is expected.
5. Lockouts. Although illegal in New York, some landlords have
locked tenants out of their home, changed the locks, and thrown
out their belongings. Not all of the police are informed that
this is against the law. Police should be more aware of tenant' s
rights.
Other problems that Ms. Malkin discussed, are landlords refusing
to allow subletting, return of security deposits, discrimination
problems, and environmental allergies (disabilities) .
Ms. Malkin feels that a more visible entity to deal with housing
issues and problems would be worthwhile, as well as a goal to
facilitate a tenant' s organization.
Other matters discussed: John E. received two more housing
complaints this month. He directed them to the appropriate
source. At the upcoming Dec. 17 Common Council meeting, � "e4 x °
discussion of variance criteria, and revisions of zoning d �¢�'
ordinances will occur. John E. feels that by granting variances, J� 9
it should not interfere with affordable housing. John S. feels
it will be difficult to add into the variance. How do you define
affordability? How do you insure that affordability lasts for a
period of time? JOHN E. AND MARK F. AGREED FOR ONCE ON AN ,% S¢`
ISSUE! John S. and Mark F. will be at the meeting.
Discussed the cover letter that John S. drafted for the Southside
Survey. Some minor revisions were made. Everyone thought it was
a good letter. Thanks John S. ! John E. moved to accept letter
with corrections, Mark F. seconded it. Accepted.
Tim Terpening did not feel the survey should be made public. The
information will be given to landlords who requested the survey
results.
Stephanie F. is leaving the Commission and Ithaca to study in
Indonesia. Good luck and thanks.
There are 3 vacanies on the commission that need to be filled.
They are in the 4th and 5th wards.
Mayor Nichols has requested $5000 for contract services. This
money includes staffing for all the City' s commissions. The
Mayor is requesting a budget on needs for 1991. Carol M. ' s
working group will draft a budget.
Last issue: How to deal with complaints. Pierre C. feels that
we need more testimony before making any decisions.
Next meeting: January 10. Carol M. will chair. Guest speakers
are Marjorie Olds and Lee Dillon.
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CITY OF ITHACA • i1"o`�! '�'`f s �J ' a/sc, /V(���d°�<<��.
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RENTAL HOUSING COMMISSION a/,/,ee l'e/LG-
MINUTES OF MEETING OF NOVEMBER 15, 1990
2 '
41... IN ATTENDANCE. Commissioners: John Efroymson (Chair);
Pierre Clavel; Mark Finkelstein (recording secretary); Stephanie Fried; William Kandel;
Carol Mallison; John Schroeder; Pam Zinder. Absent: Valerie Grinston.
Public: Larry Beck; Steven Erhardt; Gregory Manning.
Ia MINUTES. The minutes of the meeting of October 18 were adopted subject to the cor-
rection of the spelling of the last name of Mr. Terpening, a member of the public.
PUBLIC COMMENT. Mr. Manning mentioned that he is involved with a student pro-
ject looking at the rental market with a view to creating a service matching tenants and
landlords. His group is currently surveying Cornell students as to preferences and will also
create an information sheet for landlords.
Mr. Beck stated his view that all documents created by the RHC: minutes, surveys, etc.
should be made available to the public,with any necessary caveats for documents in draft
form. He also mentioned that the situation described in comment#2 of the Survey is the
opposite of reality: the practice of renting rooms is prevalent in the Southside, relatively
rare near Cornell. He also observed that the 13.5% vacancy rate found in the Survey is
significant and that security deposit requirements were found to be low. The fact that the
Survey only inquired as to tenant satisfaction and not that of landlords as to tenant cooper-
ation, cleanliness, prompt payment, etc. shows bias.
In response, JE stated that he has arranged for minutes to be available in the Clerk's
office. He did object to releasing the draft Survey because of errors contained, etc. He
didn't want findings misrepresented to the media.
.4.0 COMMUNICATIONS TO THE RHC. JE stated that the City Attorney had determined
that WK was fulfilling requirements regarding his residence and could properly
remain a member of the RHC. Mayor Nichols has indicated that Joseph Laquatra, who
spoke at an affordable housing symposium in Albany, may be a valuable resource for the
RHC MINUTES OF 11.15.90, PAGE TWO.
RHC. JE has received an additional landlord survey. JE mentioned having received a
phone call from a tenant stating that despite having left his apartment in better condition
than he found it, his security deposit had not been refunded.
Other Commissioners also mentioned having received tenant complaints, and this engen-
dered a discussion of whether the RHC should establish a complaint file or other mecha-
nism. It was agreed that this matter would be placed on the December agenda.
COMMITTEE REPORTS. The Policy and Supply Side Committees had no report. JS
reported that the Information Committee had reviewed the Survey for errors. JE had con-
tacted Larry Kestenbaum to obtain certain corrections.
OSOUTHSIDE SURVEY. WK reported that Linda Jacobson, a Professor of Consumer s e41"\: L
Economics at Cornell, had reviewed the survey. i not find that tfie Surve s."P"e
c..� y y �rre,,.,.,-k,.."
was ' va , and indicated that it did suggest certain trends, although she did not attempt( A- -1k,e
��" Q1oIo
to interpret the results. She did suggest that the survey could be improved. The Survey v see 9y,
can't be taken as representative of all Ithaca as rental markets are segmented and survey- -__--
ing in summer also affects results. The tenant satisfaction question was too,vague to be of
r N o:N�¢�
w,e„,sv e
use. Landlord response rate of less than 50%is problematic®• . ... we • • ave o,,4 4.
response of one sort or another from 70% of units.
There was considerable discussion as to how and when the Survey would be released to the
public. The Survey form given to landlords permitted them to indicate whether they wished
to receive a copy of the tabulated data. It was finally agreed that the Survey would be
released with an appropriate covering letter,which JS's committee will prepare.
There was discussion as to whether another survey should be conducted in the spring, and
if so, where and in what form.
aFINAL COMMENTS. PC suggested that we need to reexamine the question of what
problems the RHC should be investigating and addressing. MF quoted Mayor Nichols
statement to the effect that we have a depressed housing market, and indicated that this
had implications for the rental market as well.
Next meeting December 13th.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Finke tein
December 11, 1990