Carbondale Properties and the City

D. Gorton, local landlord and husband of councilwoman Jane Adams, sent  this email to the city regarding problems he is having with a local landlord and what Gorton perceives as the city's lack of concern:  The edited email is published with his permission:

I think that you do not understand what we are arguing for in the neighborhoods. We are asking for a level playing field where code is enforced in the R-1 Districts, something that you ignored in granting the Fisher slumlords the variance on the warehouse on Oakland. I think that you take time with the concerns of  Fisher and don't respond when citizens actually invest their monies in our old neighborhoods. Otherwise how to understand that you were the only city official who did not acknowledge our efforts?

We have had numerous incidents with the Fisher property at 614 W Cherry St. They have pushed trash into our yard. They have parked cars in our yard. And they are over-occupied in contravention to our R-1 zoning. But nothing happens. We have complained bitterly, but your government can't figure out how to issue a ticket. Much less how to stop the slumlord Fisher from devastating our neighborhoods.

What I expect of government is a level playing field. I can compete with any slumlord as long as the terms are the same. Their business model depends on driving out residents, crashing the properties to get lower tax evaluations and for the city to turn a blind eye to their unlawful and illegal overoccupation in R-1 zones; their indifference to maintenance and the knowledge that the city won't enforce its own codes.

If in a year or so you find that Carbondale is still hollowing out with almost no residential development, then look at your indifference to the neighborhoods as a clue.

Free Parking Removed

After last night's city council vote, landlords owning property along E. College will no longer have taxpayer subsidized parking to offer their tenants:

The council unanimously approved a proposal to convert a stretch of East College Street between Washington and Wall Streets from one-way to two-way traffic with no parking on either side.

The council was met with objections from property owners who thought the removal of on-street parking would adversely affect their rental properties.

I imagine rent prices may drop in the area now that tenants have no place to park their cars. Either that or the landlords will have to build a parking lot or otherwise provide parking for their them. I cannot imagine any resident of Carbondale willing to rent a place to live that did not have someplace provided to park an automobile and it is not the city's job to provide it.

Planning Commission Meeting

Sat in on last night's Planning Commission meeting, which had only one item on the agenda: a vote on a text amendment requiring the removal of certain non-conforming mobile homes from their current sites. If I recall correctly, there are 21 mobile homes that would be affected if the amendment is adopted. The majority of the structures are in violation because they are located next to or behind houses in areas not zoned for multiple residents on a property. These were put in during the housing shortage of the late 60s, prior to the adoption of the zoning ordinance in the mid-70s and were grandfathered in. However this does make them 35-40 years and most mobile homes don't bear the ravages to time well.

Notices of the meeting had gone out to owners of the affected buildings and about 10 people showed up to speak. One woman spoke in favor of the ordinance, since she lived across the street from one of the homes. She said she had been told by Councilman Chris Wissmannn the structure would be moved, but instead new tenants had moved into it. she hope the new amendment would cause the owner to move it as she viewed it as a blight on the neighborhood.

The other attendees all spoke against the amendment. Most appeared to be landlords or their representatives, arguing that the amendment would imposed undue economic hardship on them, as they would lose the rental income from the property until they could relocate it and would have to bear the costs of moving the buildings. They also advanced the argument that the amendment represented an unfair taking of their property by the city without compensation and asked if the city was prepared to compensate them for the costs of moving or loss of rental income.

The only other argument offered was from one woman whose son had lived in the mobile home behind her house for 22 years with a tree growing up over it, making it impossible to move the home without cutting down the tree.

After listening to everyone's statements, three or four times in some cases, the commission voted 4-2, with one abstention by a member who had a financial interest in rental properties in the city, to approve the amendment and pass it along to the city council for a vote at the next meeting.

Rental Inspection Fees

Interesting article on the front page of this week's Carbondale Times (print only so you'll have to pick up a copy somewhere in town). It appears the $35 inspection fee passed last year to fund additional inspectors is generating a lot less money than originally projected. Original projections were collections in excess of $300,000 but the actual money collected is running a bit under $200,000, mainly due to delays in collections and uncertainty regarding who owns which property. Apparently, there's been a spate of transfers of rental properties among Carbondale landlords, with the result that the city is uncertain from whom to collect the fees.

Rental Safety

From what I understand, the apartment where this took place is located in a house that has been subdivided into several apartments. However, there is no key for the tenants to lock the main door so anyone who wants to can wander in at all hours of the day or night. After the robbery, the tenants asked the landlord to install a keyed lock on the main door but the landlord refused. Apparently, the only option now is for the tenants to file a formal request for inspection with the city. You'd think your landlord would want to make his tenants feel safe in his properties.