[RP TownTalk] property code, multifamily uses of single family houses, and related issues

[Don Lynch]

Thank you Vern.

Of all the problems currently confronting our town, I'm glad to see 
lawns are a top priority. TIC

Don

Vernon Archer wrote:
> Friends and neighbors,
>  
> It has been interesting to read back over some of the discussions of 
> housing, maintenance, enforcement, immigration and related issues that 
> this list has hosted over the last week.  As I have been very consumed 
> with trying to put together the FY 2011 budget proposal and preparing 
> to explain it to both the council and town residents I am just now 
> getting caught up a number of past emails--including most of the 
> referenced discussion.  Now that I am "semi" caught up, I'd like to 
> ask a courtesy, and provide what I hope will be some 
> useful contributions to the those who are interested.  There is way to 
> much to comment on everything, so I'm going to confine myself to 
> things most directly related to town government activities.
>  
> First, if you want my opinion or official position, please address me 
> separately OR in addition to the list so that I know I am being asked 
> to respond as opposed to simply being another person on the list who 
> may or may not decide to read and or weigh in on a discussion.
>  
> Regarding code and occupancy issues:
> If there are specific violations, or accusations being made of 
> violations of town code or law it is improper for me to discuss them 
> in a public forum. If you feel that a specific violation has/is taking 
> place and you don't feel it is being addressed, or you don't know who 
> to contact, please mail me directly and I will work with you to get 
> the situation addressed. 
>  
> Regarding immigration, residency and citizenship, I will restrain 
> myself to a common understanding of current municipal law (law as 
> explained through Maryland Municipal League, and advice from municipal 
> attorneys).  The United States has citizens. States, counties and 
> towns have residents. Therefore, except in a few fairly well defined 
> exceptions like felonies, direct employment and voting rights, a 
> person's status as citizen (or registered or unregistered alien) is 
> very rarely an issue for us to consider. Certainly in cases of code 
> enforcement and use/occupancy such status is simply not relevant.
>  
> The town is a home to residents and a workplace for persons from a 
> wide variety of backgrounds and it is our policy to actively 
> engage us ALL in making our town safe, clean and beautiful.  Because 
> our homes are greatly impacted by the actions (or lack of actions) of 
> others in our neighborhoods, residents before us were granted a 
> charter and then created town code to insure a certain minimum 
> standard of upkeep.  We work diligently to encourage compliance with 
> town code and when necessary take actions to penalize those who do not 
> obey the code. Because the accused and or cited have legal rights too, 
> it is often frustrating to see clear violation go unabated for what 
> seems like a long time but we in municipal government must follow our 
> rules too.  
>  
> I find that almost always--though not quite--when I receive complaints 
> about a particular property our code enforcement office already has an 
> open case on the property.  Because we have found that our code is 
> sometimes overly cumbersome,we have moved in several instances to 
> streamline the process of either penalizing, or moving to cleanup 
> violations and bill the owners. This is an ongoing process and 
> feedback from the community about your opinions and any frustrations 
> will help us fine tune the code.
>  
> Multi-family uses of single family homes is definitely a complicated 
> issue for code enforcement.  Until a few years ago this was 
> exclusively an issue for the county, but in about 2006 our 
> council adopted segments of county code on occupancy so that we can 
> now address these matters too. We are still heavily dependent on the 
> county for support in these cases, but since we can initiate such 
> cases we are handling them better than in the past. 
>  
> The basic rule is there can be no more than 5 unrelated 
> families/persons in a house, but this is rarely the real problem 
> threshold.  Problems of overcrowding usually include members of only 
> two or three unrelated families.  What we find is usually the best way 
> to address difficult crowding situations are if there are clear 
> violations of other types--illegal parking, violations of yard or 
> trash disposal, etc. 
>  
> The threshold for throwing people out of their house is of course 
> high, as it should be. 
>  
> I'm running out of time as I have tonight's meeting to prepare for. In 
> closing please know our town council work session is tonight at 8 PM 
> and next Monday night's Legislative session where the business of the 
> town is actually transacted. One item on the agenda--may or may not be 
> discussed tonight, but that will almost certainly be acted on next 
> Monday night--is a reform of the code to allow for more vigorous 
> enforcement of overgrown lawns.
>  
> Best wishes to all,
>  
> Vern
>
> -- 
> Vernon Archer, Mayor
> Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland
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