Housing code talk targets safety

Carrboro officials are continuing work on a set of rules that will make housing safer for residents.

At a public hearing Tuesday, the Board of Aldermen discussed adding a new chapter to the Town Code devoted to housing — but they didn’t vote on the idea and instead asked staff to clarify several points concerning fire safety and rental properties.

The proposed Chapter 17, which would update town housing standards for the first time since 1978 and apply to new and old homes, integrates existing town and state housing inspection rules into a single document.

The chapter would include minimum housing dimensions and standards for lighting, ventilation, property maintenance, utilities and fire resistance.

Aldermen raised a number of issues that apply to rental units, which are often not regularly inspected, said Town Attorney Mike Brough. “Minimum housing inspections are hugely unlikely to happen here,” he told the aldermen.

Rental properties also tend to have high turnover rates and to be more expensive than similar nonrental units, Brough said, and tenants do not always report problems to landlords.

But under the proposed regulations, he said, occupants have the right to request inspections without the owner’s permission.

Alderman Jackie Gist asked staff how the town and other outside parties could advocate for low-income renters, who are less likely to request inspections.

“Could El Centro (Latino) call the town about possible substandard housing?” she asked Brough.

Third-party-driven inspections would be possible with occupants’ permission, perhaps preventing rental properties from deteriorating, Brough responded.

Carrboro resident Robert Kirschner, who spoke at the meeting, echoed the aldermen’s comments when he expressed concern with several revisions in the chapter — such as the amount of fire damage necessary to require that sprinkler systems be installed in homes.

The 1996 fire in the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house that killed five University students prompted the town to update its housing regulations to require sprinkler systems in several types of multiunit housing.

But both Kirschner and the aldermen expressed alarm at the expense of installing sprinkler systems in more types of housing, as the chapter proposes, and where that expense would fall.

Kirschner also said he favored changes that further define the duties of tenants and owners.

“Tenants tend to come in and feel that nothing applies to them,” he said, also suggesting that landlords perform background checks on people who rent housing.

“There’s not a provision for background checks on tenants,” Kirschner said. “It’s not so much to discriminate but to put in a layer of protection for the community.”

While re-evaluating the Tenants’ Bill of Rights in 2003, town staff saw the need to update the Town Housing Code.

Chapter 17 would unify the tenants’ bill, the housing code and the International Property Maintenance Code into a single document, said town planning administrator Trish McGuire.

The proposal includes 52 changes to the old housing code, most of which are revised definitions.

The changes will make enforcing the housing code more efficient, McGuire said.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.