HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 Status Report to Common Council from RHAC Status Report to the City of Ithaca Common Council from
The Rental Housing Advisory Commission
February, 2006
Historical Perspective on the Commission
The Commission was essentially defunct for the 8 years of the Cohen administration, and
has only begun meeting again since March of 2005. Much of our time over the last year
has been spent trying to re-establish the direction and focus of the Commission.
Maintaining continuity of membership on the Commission has continued to be a
problem. At full strength we would have 9 regular members and a Common Council
Liaison, for a total of 10. At no time since we began meeting in March of 2005 have we
had more than 8 active members, and over the last 9 months we have lost 5 of those
members (3 landlords, 1 representative from the non-profit housing sector, and 1
Common Council Liaison). Other people have joined, so we are currently short just 3
members (2 renters and a landlord), but the turnover on the Commission has made our
work that much harder.
Work in 2005
As part of our effort to re-establish the direction and focus of the Commission, we met
with experts and the public to gather facts about the rental housing situation in Ithaca.
We met with Anne Gifford, the rental housing specialist with the Tompkins County Co-
operative Extension, Mike Niechwiadowicz from the City's Building Department, Pete
Meyers and Carl Feuer from the Workers' Rights Center and Immigrant Rights Center,
assistant City Attorney Bob Sarachan, and Eric Clay from the Community Foundation.
We also sponsored a Community Forum on Rental Housing Issues in April 2005 attended
by members of the public (both tenants and landlords), Common Council members,
County Board members, staff from Tompkins Community Action, and members of the
press.
From these meetings, we derived the following list of issues:
1. The availability, condition, and cost of much of the rental housing stock in the
City of Ithaca. As is generally known, much of the housing stock in the City is
aged(82.1% was built prior to 1940)1, in short supply(the rental vacancy rate in
Community Foundation of Tompkins County, Tompkins County Housing Forum Background Report,
Feb.,2004,p.7.
1
Ithaca in 2000 was 2.7%)2, and overly expensive relative to household incomes
(77% of all low-income households in the City overpay on rent relative to their
incomes; 92% of all lowest-income households overpay).3
2. The need for a public electronic database of rental units. Such a database could
include information on a unit's Certificate of Compliance status, condition,
(wheelchair) accessibility and rent. This database might be built in part through a
physical survey of the condition of Ithaca's rental properties.
3. The lack of legislation requiring landlords to notify tenants about and abatement
of environmental hazards. Although such legislation exists for lead and lead
paint, no such legislation exists for other hazards such as asbestos or organic
solvents (e.g., the TCE contamination on Ithaca's South Hill).
4. Building Department response to landlord and tenant needs, especially the issuing
and renewing of Certificates of Compliance and response to tenant complaints.
5. Section 8 housing, including its availability(and the possibility of increased
availability), and education for both landlords and tenants about the processes of
Section 8.
6. A possible Rental Housing Center, which could include access to the database
mentioned in Item 2, as well as model leases and advice on all aspects of
landlord/tenant relations and responsibilities, including leases, security deposits,
evictions, and landlord/tenant dispute resolution.
7. The assessment of the needs of particular groups of tenants (e.g., students, senior
citizens, tenants with mental or physical disabilities), especially as they differ
from those of other tenants.
8. A need for more information on the City website about eviction procedures.
9. A need for investigation on why the conditions listed in Item 1. obtain, that is,
why rental housing in Ithaca is in such short supply and expensive relative to
household incomes.
10. A need for the Commission to provide a structure for the City to work with
landlords on City ordinances and their enforcement(e.g., fines for snow removal
and other exterior property maintenance issues).
2 Cornell University Department of City and regional Planning City Planning Workshop,Musical Chairs:
The High-Stakes Game of Affordable Housing in Tompkins County,November,2003,p. 14,Fig. 6.
http://www.crp.cornell.edu/dcrp/outreach/musicalchairs_report.pdf
3 Cornell University Department of City and regional Planning City Planning Workshop,Musical Chairs:
The High-Stakes Game of Affordable Housing in Tompkins County,November,2003,p.7.
2
Anticipated Work in 2006
We hope to continue work on all of these issues in the coming year. We are also
planning to invite additional guest speakers, including Shawn Martel-Moore from the
Human Rights Commission, someone from Tompkins Community Action to speak about
Section 8 issues, someone to speak about accessibility issues for rental housing, and
others as issues arise. We are also planning to hold another public forum on rental
housing issues, likely in the Spring of 2006.
3