AGENDA #4c
to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: Lance Norris, Inspections Department Director
subject: Chapter 9 of the Town Code of Ordinances Text Amendment
date: February 25, 2008
The purpose of this report is to present information from the staff regarding the proposed Housing Code text amendment.
The daily penalty for violations of Chapter Nine of the Town Code of Ordinances was inadvertently removed with the expiration of the Rental Licensing Code ordinances. Notifications to property owners in violation of the Housing Code over the past four years have included that the daily civil penalty would be applied if the violations were not corrected.
Daily civil penalties which may be applied regardless of the criminal misdemeanor charges are a commonly applied enforcement tool to ensure compliance with an ordinance involving the physical condition of private property. The Town Land Use Management Ordinance allows for the accrual of daily penalties of $100.00 per day until compliance is confirmed. The Housing Code allowed for similar daily penalties of $50.00 per day. Citizens have requested that the Town consider a new regulatory program for residential properties that are leased, alleging that rental property is more likely than owner occupied property to not only be in violation of local ordinances, but also to repeat those violations. The Town of Chapel Hill Code of Ordinances applies to all private property regardless of the location of the property owner. The enforcement measures within the Section 9-37 can be made to deter repeat offenses of the ordinance by increasing the penalties depending upon whether the property owner has been in violation within a recent period of time. The North Carolina state municipal records retention and disposition schedule allows for the destruction of complaint files after three years.
We recommend that the Council enact the attached ordinance. The text amendments for Section 9-37 of the Code of Ordinances would address two concerns; that a civil penalty is available to deter violations, and that the penalty increases within three years to deter repeat offenses.