Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Planning & Development Services

 

TO:

Scott McCullough, Director Planning & Development Services

 

FROM:

Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Manager

 

CC:

Margene Swarts, Assistant Director Development Services

 

Date:

August 27, 2008

 

RE:

Text Amendments to Rental Licensing Requirements (6-1301)

 

 

Code Enforcement Staff recommends the adoption of the attached ordinance pertaining to the requirements of rental licensing of dwelling units located in RS zoning districts. The ordinance is not related to the proposed rental inspection requirements for all rental units that are 50 years or older that may be implemented in 2009.  Discussion of that program expansion will likely occur in the fall of 2008.

 

The proposed amendments include:

 

·         Creates a renewal schedule for permits based on an owner’s last name to streamline the renewal process for landlords and to concentrate renewals to more efficient times of the year for staff.

·         Repeals section 6-1306 related to occupancy of rental units.  Some landlords/owners have misinterpreted this section of the rental licensing ordinance to grant an exception to the definition of “family” as defined in the Land Development Code.

·         Identifies group home and adult day care as being exempt from the licensing requirements to reflect similar exemptions provided under the old zoning code.

·         Provides house cleaning type text revisions to incorporate codes that have been adopted since the ordinance’s original adoption and to reflect the creation of the Planning and Development Services Department.

 

Text Language

 

The following changes are a result of recently adopted codes and the merging of the Planning Department and Neighborhood Resources Department.

 

·         Neighborhood Resources is now identified as Planning and Development Services.

·         Use Group 7 is deleted as this use group was omitted in the new Development Code.

·         Zoning Code is replaced with the Development Code.

·         Uniform Housing Code is replaced with the Property Maintenance Code.

 

Permit Requirements

 

Section 6-1302 requires every owner of a single family attached or single family detached dwelling within the City RS zoning districts to obtain an annual rental licensing permit for each dwelling prior to leasing, subleasing or renting the dwelling unit.

 

The proposed renewal schedule based on an owner’s last name has three main benefits.  First, the renewal schedule is designed to make the payment process more manageable to staff by creating a schedule that evenly distributes the renewals over a nine month period of time.   Approximately 1,000 of the 1,875 licensed properties are currently renewed during the months of December, January and February creating a very hectic work schedule for staff.  The additional responsibility of renewing all of the contractor licenses at end of the year creates additional challenges.. 

 

Secondly, the proposed renewal schedule is designed to make the payment process more user friendly to the property owners and property managers by requiring a one time payment schedule for owners with multiple rental properties.  Once established, property owners will have one notice date for all of their properties instead of trying to remember which property’s license is due.   Additionally, the proposed schedule prevents any renewals coming due during the busy holiday months of November, December and January. 

 

The third benefit will occur if the City proceeds with the adoption of an ordinance regarding the rental licensing and inspection regulations for all properties that are 50 years old or older.  Our office would be responsible for several thousand additional rental renewals and utilizing the same payment schedule would be beneficial to staff and property owners for the same reasons as identified above.

 

The one change to the payment schedule would be how the initial registration fee of 25.00 dollars is managed.  A new permit would be valid until the expiration date established in the renewal schedule.  A property owner could be required to pay the initial 25.00 dollar registration fee and the renewal fee within a 365 day period of time which is similar to how the contractor licensing program handles first time licensing of contractors.  Once the property owner has complied with renewal payment schedule, the property owner would be paying a 25.00 renewal fee once a year for each property that they own.

 

Non-Application of Article to Certain Dwellings

 

Section 6-1302.5 identifies “Use Group 7” of the Chapter 20 to be exempt of the licensing requirements.  The use groups identified in the Zoning Code were eliminated in the Development Code therefore Use Group 7 has been deleted.  A review of the Use group 7 and the new code identified a group home and an adult care home as being the two uses that would be exempt from the requirements of licensing of single family dwellings located in RS zoned districts.

 

 

 

 

 

Section 6-1306

 

This section should be repealed in its entirety as the section is often misinterpreted to be an exemption to the occupancy regulations identified in section 20-202(g) of the Development Code and secondly, part of the code provision is time specific and since the referenced year of 2004 is no longer relevant there is no need for that particular section of the code.   Additionally, section 6-1306.5 can be deleted as this section refers to section 6-1306. 

 

Commission Action Requested

 

Consider and adopt the proposed ordinance if appropriate.