RSS
|
|
“Until we put teeth in minimum housing we're not going to go anywhere,” Mayor Drewery Beale said at Tuesday's City Council meetings as he unveiled his directive to the city staff.
It begins with reviewing minimum housing and nuisance ordinances in the city, along with addressing other issues, followed by meetings and what Beale hopes will be something to benefit all city residents, including the ones who live in blighted neighborhoods.
Thursday, the mayor said his initial focus will be on the city's west side, the 900 and 1000 blocks of Henry, Franklin and Vance streets.
In the 900 block of Henry Street alone, there have been 452 emergency calls, beginning Jan. 1, 2007, through Sept. 6.
There have been 171 subpoenas served, 24 domestic calls, 22 animal calls, 12 disturbance calls, eight dispute calls and eight fight calls.
The number of calls, the mayor said, is directly related to the condition of housing in this neighborhood and ones like them. “Some of the houses breed crime,” he said. “It doesn't give people a decent place to live.”
Most of the houses are rental houses and part of the mayor's plan will be to make landlords more accountable, require them to screen potential renters who have prior drug arrests and for the city to make its existing ordinances tougher. “We want a stringent minimum housing code that will hit them in the pocketbook,” he said of landlords.
Beale said he has already been in contact with cities, which have sagging pants laws, which prohibit people from wearing pants that are below their underwear, an ordinance he would like to see Roanoke Rapids establish. “We don't have to be exposed to such things. We will take an ordinance to city council.”
With the first part of his mission accomplished by discussing the matter with City Council Tuesday, the mayor is now looking to hold additional meetings that will include the Housing Authority and the Choanoke Area Development Association and meetings with landlords to request they not rent to people with drug convictions.
The mayor's plans call for a collaborative effort between all departments, including Public Works, Planning and Development and the Police Department, Beale said.
Many of the houses in blighted areas need to be torn down, Beale said. “There's no way a landlord can go in and fix them the way they need to be without spending a lot of money.”
Another thing the mayor would like to see done is let Code Enforcement handle demolitions from beginning to end. “When Code Enforcement comes (to city council for demolition approval) they've already given them one or two years to fix it up,” Beale said. “I wouldn't have any problem if they didn't bring them to City Council.”
That is something Planning and Development Director George Gurley concurs with. “The main thing is the time frames. We'd like to look at ways to more efficiently use those time frames in my opinion.”
Gurley said before these matters even get to City Council, “We've given people every benefit. , given them every opportunity to do something. Sometimes Council hears the same thing we've heard.”
What the proposals don't come with are extra personnel, the mayor stressed in Tuesday night's meeting.
“I think the message was enforce what you have got,” the mayor said Thursday.
Gurley said one thing that he and Public Works Director Richard Parnell will look at is more effective use of nuisance ordinance laws. “One of the things that didn't get a lot of attention is junk and trash and debris,” he said. “Nuisance ordinances can be very critical.”
It will probably take several weeks before any plans are put on paper, both the mayor and Gurley said.
The mayor believes the plans will make the city, especially the west side, a better place to live. During State Games traffic was routed to bypass the neighborhood and the mayor worries what it could do to potential economic development. “There are good people there who deserve our help,” he said. “This is not going to be a popular political issue. We want to do what is right.”
Comments