The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah met in Regular Session on Thursday, September 19, 1996, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 325, City County Building, 451 South State Street.
The following Council Members were present:
Stuart Reid Sam Souvall Deeda Seed
Tom Godfrey Bryce Jolley Keith Christensen
The following Councilmember was absent:
Joanne Milner
Brian Hatch, Deputy Mayor; Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; and Scott Crandall, Deputy Recorder were present.
Councilmember Christensen presided at and conducted the meeting.
CONSENT AGENDA
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Jolley seconded to approve the Consent Agenda, which motion carried, all members present voted aye.
#1. RE: Approving the appointment of Arthur K. Smith to the Utah Transit Authority Board for a term extending through August 10, 1999.
(I 96-18)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
#1. RE: Consider an appeal by Joseph Rohan of Planning Commission decision for Conditional Use, Petition No. 410-188, submitted by Westminster College for a parking structure.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Souvall seconded to uphold the Planning Commission decision to approve Conditional Use Case 410-186 decision based upon review of the appeal, the information provided on the record and Section 27-8 Standards for Conditional Use in the Zoning Ordinance based upon the following findings: 1) no evidence was improperly excluded from consideration, and 2) the decision made by the Planning Commission was supported by the findings of fact based upon the applicable standards of approval and the evidence presented and considered as a whole satisfied the policies set forth in the conditional use purpose statement of the Zoning Ordinance, Section 27-1, which motion carried, all members present voted aye.
DISCUSSION: See Committee of the Whole minutes for September 19, 1996.
(H 96-1)
#2. RE: Consider adopting an ordinance amending Chapter 5.14, Salt Lake City Code, relating to rental dwellings; establishing an implementation date.
ACTION: Councilmember Jolley moved and Councilmember Souvall seconded to amend Chapter 5.14 of the Salt Lake City Code, relating to rental dwellings; that the City continue with the inspection of three to four unit dwellings beginning October 1, 1996 and postpone the inspection of single family and duplexes until July 1, 1997. In addition, the City exclude owner occupied dwellings from the ordinance and send a directive to the Administration that a letter be sent to all Salt Lake City residents notifying them that if they have a rental unit at the primary residence, they could be temporarily exempt from the business license and inspection of the property if a business license waiver request was returned to the City within 90 days of the letter. The business license waiver application would include a signed statement by the owner that the rental dwelling was safe and free from violations of the Housing Code as pertains to imminent and hazardous conditions and the City would still reserve the right to inspect the rental dwelling if the City received complaints according to the Fit Premise Ordinance and the City would then place a restriction on the property so that when it was sold, the new owner would be required to take out a business license and have inspections according to the ordinance, which motion failed, Council Members Souvall, Seed and Jolley voted aye, Council Members Reid, Godfrey and Christensen voted nay and Councilmember Milner was absent for the vote.
Councilmember Souvall moved and Councilmember Seed seconded to adopt the ordinance as presented by the Administration with the addition that owner occupied units be excluded, which motion failed, Council Members Souvall, Seed and Jolley voted aye, Council Members Reid, Godfrey and Christensen voted nay, and Councilmember Milner was absent for the vote.
Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Reid seconded to adopt Ordinance 71 of 1996 as presented by the Administration, which motion carried, all Council Members present voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Jolley said he was concerned about the rental license fee and felt the City needed to be more sensitive to some of the situations. He said he had no problem with the City's interest in making sure everyone within the City had adequate safe dwellings to live in. He said an inspection of those dwellings was appropriate especially if the owner was an absentee landlord. He said he was concerned with the owner occupied buildings and the motion would exclude the owner occupied area of the ordinance. He said the City could make sure the dwellings were safe when sold. He said if there were complaints the City could inspect the property as had been done in the past.
Councilmember Godfrey said he was uncomfortable with the exclusion of owner occupied units. He said the City's goal was to deal with health and safety. He said as long as someone was making money off someone living in their house, then the City had to make sure those people who were renting were protected.
Councilmember Reid said between now and July 1, 1997 the City could encourage a legislative intent so Administration could identify a number of issues including the number of owner occupied units and the impact the proposed ordinance would have on those particular homes. He said a sense of health and safety issues relative to those particular properties could also be obtained. He said the Council could have a briefing in February of 1997 on one and two unit dwellings.
Councilmember Souvall said when a person lived in their own home, they would take better care of the home. He said time was needed to develop a database. He said ordinances were in place to deal with health and safety issues.
Councilmember Christensen said the issue had gotten out of control in some areas. He said the ordinance which would go into effect October 1st, 1996 would not change any single law with respect to safety, health, and habitability. He said all of those laws already existed. He said all the Council wanted to do was to license and start a routine system of inspection to guarantee laws were being complied with.
Councilmember Seed said it was true the City was not changing any laws because they had the Fit Premise ordinance. She said the City was adding a lot of red tape to the lives of renters and property owners. She said she was concerned with the implementation of the three and four units. She said she favored exempting owner occupied units.
Councilmember Jolley said the motion to exempt owner occupied rentals would solve the problem of more apartments than the City could handle. He said it would require residents to send in an application of waiver. He said at that point the City could start building a database of rental housing and how the City could deal with it. He said this was an expensive issue for a lot of people and he said he supported the ordinance for businesses which were not owner occupied.
Councilmember Christensen said he was concerned that if the ordinance went into effect in 10 days, the one and two units would be scheduled for inspection in January of 1997.
Councilmember Jolley said he was proposing a waiver of business license until the rental property sold and a new owner took over.
Councilmember Seed said she would vote for the original motion because it gave the Council time to discuss one and two units. She said the motion did not do everything the City needed to do to be effective and responsible.
Councilmember Jolley said he wanted owner occupied homes out of the ordinance, but he hoped Administration would see the sensitivity of the issue and realize the Council's concerns. He said by giving the Administration an additional nine months, implementation could be done properly.
(O 96-28)
The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.
bj