19WCA Housing Committee Minutes - September 19, 2012 - (Day Meeting)

19th Ward Community Association
Housing Committee
Day Meeting Notes
September 19, 2012
FINAL

The Meeting convened at 11:10am.

Present: John B, Marian B, Jackie F, Toni O, June R, Donna S

Project Definitions
June led the discussion concerning the formal definition of both existing and future areas of work, which will be referred to as Projects. Each Project will have one or two Project Leaders. The following Projects were defined:

Totes – Project Leaders Toni and June
Code violations - Project Leaders Toni and June
Vacant and/or fire-damaged properties,
Preservation
Illegal conversions/student housing
Financial assistance for repairs
Landlords

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list and is subject to modification as needs change.

It is expected that having well-defined opportunities to serve will encourage individuals to become active where they perceive the most pressing need. When a Project Leader is identified, he/she will create a proposal, which will be approved by the Committee before initiation. After approval, the Project Leader will report regularly to the Committee. Adjustments to the process will be discussed and implemented as necessary.

Tote and trash violations
Survey and follow-up have been completed for the entire Ward. Next year we will do one-quarter of the Ward per month and rotate through continuously.

Code Violations
Toni and June will begin work on code violations, starting with the main arteries – West Avenue, Chili Avenue, Arnett Boulevard, Westfield Street, Genesee Park Boulevard, Brooks Avenue, and Genesee Street. They will proceed as with totes: one-quarter of the Ward per month. They will walk or drive through and pick a few examples starting with easy fixes. They will then ask Gary Kirkmire to tour with them and confirm they are choosing appropriate items. Courtesy letters on 19th Ward Community Association letterhead will be mailed to property owners advising them of the problems. Following is an e-mail from Gary with suggestions:

From: Kirkmire, Gary M. <Kirkmirg@CityofRochester.gov>
Subject: RE: 19th ward housing committee
To: "'maria o'" <***********@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, August 31, 2012, 2:21 PM

Hi Toni,

The problem is not identifying the problems, believe me we have a lot of people who know how to do that, in addition to those that we come across by other means, C of O, permit, complaint, ect. You need to keep in mind that we have at all times about 9,000 properties with outstanding issues that need to be followed up on. With about 68,000 parcels in the city, that’s a case for every seven and a half houses. Each case has on average about three customers interested in the disposition, that’s 27,000 customers who either contact us or are being contacted by us on an ongoing basis. As you could imagine, with basically 24 inspectors and very little supervisory staff that can be extremely overwhelming.
Statistically speaking, while most people comply voluntarily without having to be ticketed, this only occurs because our inspection staff is required to continue to communicate with them on a monthly basis until they do so. Because of this and the information above and due to the fact that all rental properties in the city are already required to be inspected on a regular basis, the issues we should be involved with, especially when they involve an owner occupant, should be limited to those which could be considered health and safety related or blight. From your list below that may include things such as:

Deteriorated porches, stairs or missing handrails;

Falling gutters;

Deteriorated paint;

Porch enclosures;

Illegal driveway expansions.

This is not a complete list but just a few examples of issues that should be issued notice and orders. That said, as I mentioned to your group, the best scenario would be for you to establish a list of properties with issues, check with our records to see which if any are already cited and for those not cited start by sending the owner a courtesy letter on the Neighborhood Associations letterhead. If after a couple of months you do not notice and action on the owners part then a referral to us would be in order.
Ideally it is most effective to begin the process of surveying exteriors in the spring time so that the owner has enough time to address before we issue an order. It is not appropriate to have notices issued for exterior blight in the fall because by the time the 60 day violations expire the seasonal weather prevents an owner from taking action. If you feel like beginning this year then I would suggest sending letters but follow up again in early spring before you refer them to us.
Hopefully this makes sense, if you need more information or if you would like us to attend the next meeting let me know.

Gary
Gary Kirkmire
Director of Inspection & Compliance Services
Neighborhood & Business Development
Phone: 585-428-6159
Fax: 585-428-6287
kirkmirg@cityofrochester.gov