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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-20-08-WS ~ ~~HILLS Approved: November 10, 2008 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING OCTOBER 20, 2008 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Stan Harpstead called to order the City Council Work Session meeting at 5:07 p.m. Present: Mayor Stan Harpstead; Council Members David Grant, Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, and Dave McClung (arrived at 5:20 p.m. ). Absent: None. Also present: City Administrator Ron Moorse; Assistant City Administrator Noah Simon; Community Development Director James Lehnhoff; City Planner Meagan Beekman; Park and Recreation Manager Michelle Olson; City Attorney Jerry Filla; Building Official, Dave Scherbel; and Building Inspector/Code Enforcement Officer John Mennenga. 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Community Livability Community Development Director Lehnhoff presented the City Council with information on the community livability program. He reviewed his memo and how enforcement of the code would be handled. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated an informal rental housing focus group met twice this year to provide input to staff regarding housing regulations.. After providing a summary he asked the Council for their input regarding their main goals in relation to community livability/code enforcement. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 2 Councilmember Grant indicated some of his concerns related to rental housing. He stated garbage cans, and lawn 'mowing were also an issue as they lead to properties looking run down. Councilmember Grant explained compliance from the homeowner needs to arise without a lengthy process. Mayor Harpstead noted his overarching goal through this document was to enhance the safety, health and vitality of the community. He indicated he would also like to engender acceptance, tolerance and community in order to create full quality of life. Mayor Harpstead added that he would like to see differences handled across property lines and not brought to the City or require legal enforcement. He recognized that some solutions would be costly, but that they cannot be exclusionary. Councilmember Holden indicated her concern was rental property within the City. She stated neighbors have been complaining for five years and that a licensing process should be created to regulate this area. Councilmember Holden explained she was concerned about putting neighbor against neighbor.. Councilmember Holmes expressed concern for rental property along with creating documentation of who are the Lessees and Lessors. She felt there also needed to be a better garbage can ordinance. Councilmember Holmes stated another issue in her neighborhood was residents that were burning garbage. Community Development Director Lehnhoff noted these were similar concerns raised by the housing group and are real issues that need to be addressed while other concerns can be singled down to a couple of properties. He indicated staff wants to enforce these issues. Staff s goal is to reach compliance as quickly as possible. Community Development Director Lehnhoff indicated he has heard concerns about rental property, though they also applied to owner occupied properties. He stated the violations include excessive vehicles, too many people living in a single family home, along with exterior maintenance. Councilmember Holden stated the problem with rental property at this time was there was no area within the City to handle concerns and how to contact the property owner. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 3 Councilmember McClung stated he has heard concerns about the increasing number of rental houses. He indicated the legal process for compliance took far too long and that these issues should be handled by administrative fines. Councilmember Holmes explained the Ordinance does need to be changed for all items but that enforcement was more the concern. Community Development Director Lehnhoff agreed stating this was a good point. He indicated the garbage can Ordinance may need to be addressed or amended. Community Development Director Lehnhoff added that frustration grows among the residents during the enforcement process as it is not timely. Councilmember Holmes stated the City needs to be more efficient with enforcement. Councilmember McClung indicated additional tools may need to be added for the City to reach compliance quicker than issuing citations on property owners. Councilmember Holden explained residents may have reached a point beyond frustration and are not calling City Hall anymore due to the slow reaction they are getting from staff to reach compliance. She stated she is approached while walking, at the grocery store, etc. by homeowners with complaints. Councilmember McClung noted the City was on the front end of these issues and stated he would like to see the City be proactive in handling enforcement issues going forward. He explained the rental housing increase was a growing concern as it would continue to affect the surrounding properties. Councilmember Holden asked if the title of the program could be changed to reduce the confusion with the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Grant program. Mayor Harpstead stated he does not have the rental housing issues in his neighborhood expressed by the other Councilmembers but that he has heard concerns about excessive partying on Friday nights, along with additional parked cars. He explained the property boundaries and neatness of rental properties need to be in compliance. Councilmember Holden questioned if the City was liable if some rental properties have more than four unrelated persons living within a single family home. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 4 Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated a rental registration program could assist in handling the number of students within rental homes simply through education. He indicated this would change on a yearly basis as the school year began and ended, but would hold the owner accountable versus the City. Further discussion ensued regarding rental properties within the City of Arden Hills. Mayor Harpstead questioned if the City could require the names of the renters living in rental properties in Arden Hills. City Attorney Jerry Filla stated the City could require this information or that it could be gathered through the license plates of the vehicles parked on site. He reviewed how citations would be handled through the memo with administrative fines, accelerated abatements, rental registration and rental licensing. Community Development Director Lehnhoff noted priorities would have to be set to assist in managing enforcement effectively along with educating the residents. Councilmember Holden questioned the enforcement resources available. She asked if Dave Scherbel had additional time to spend on code enforcement with his time spent on the City Hall decreasing. She also asked about the number of open permits. Dave Scherbel, Building Official stated this information was available in the third quarter report.He stated that he would pass the reportalong to the Council. Staff reviewed the current number of building permits and how staff was allocated to these items. He indicated that reminder notices have been sent on open permits to have these issues finalized. Mr. Scherbel stated John Mennenga was supposed to be spending quarter time on code enforcement and was currently up to one half. He explained a great deal of time is spent resolving disputes and providing follow-up inspections with code enforcement issues. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated this discussion would assist staff in streamlining the code enforcement process to reduce the time spent on these Issues. Councilmember McClung indicated he felt the citation process should be the last result. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 5 Community Development Director Lehnhoff agreed that this was the current process and it could be time consuming. City Attorney Filla interjected information based on his experience with other cities. He stated the Council needed to consider how they wanted to work with property owners through written notices and established compliance timelines. City Attorney Filla suggested the Council not allow property owners too much time to resolve these problems because in the end it just adds to the time these properties were out of compliance. He understood the importance of customer friendly processes, "but that the Council needed to take control of this area. Mr. Scherbel agreed that the current written notice system allowed for residents to be out of compliance for up to 30 days before the City took further action. Further discussion was held regarding the current non-compliance resolution process and the length of time involved, along with nuisance abatement issues. Councilmember Holden questioned how staff would handle peeling paint on a house in January. Community Development Director Lehnhoff noted this could be dealth with through the International Property Maintenance Code and could potentially be abated. Mayor Harpstead asked that Council discuss Page 12 and set recommendations and priorities. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated he put down a rough outline of how he would like to see items handled without overpromising how quickly objectives could be handled. He indicated accelerated abatements were placed over rental registrations because it was a simple tool to gain immediate compliance. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated the abatement issues could become a monthly agenda item needing Council's review and approval.. Mayor Harpstead questioned if the Council was in favor of staff proceeding with the accelerated abatement process work. Councilmember Grant suggested staff proceed as this would be a valuable tool in reaching compliance quickly. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 6 Councilmember Holden agreed. Mayor Harpstead stated the next step would be to develop a written code enforcement response policy. City Attorney Jerry Filla indicated a policy would create a statement of purpose for the City indicating how the City wants to maintain property values, etc. He added that if an issue were to go to court the policy would assist in stating where the City stands. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated he would create a draft document for the Council to review at a future work session. Discussion was held regarding the licensing of rental properties and how this process should begin and how the City could handle non-compliance. Councilmember Holmes questioned how many residential rentals were in the City at this time. Community Development Director Lehnhoff estimated there were 250-300 homes but that this number could be more or less. He indicated this was the number of non-homesteaded homes within Arden Hills. Councilmember McClung felt it was the right thing to register the rental homes, especially before TCAAP began. Councilmember Holden questioned the difference between rental licensing and rental registrations. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained the difference between licensing and registration would be that the City could conduct an annual internal inspection of a home with a licensing program. He stated this would be greater defined within the code; however, there is not a standard legal difference between registration and licensing. Councilmember Grant stated he was in favor of the registrations but did not want the licensing process to become another area that would be back-logged. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 7 Mayor Harpstead stated he was in favor of the affidavit process to understand which homes are being rented within the City. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained the registration process would also allow staff the opportunity to interact with the community and to provide information on the expectations of the City. Mayor Harpstead noted the City of Shoreview has had their rental licensing program in force for the past three years. He indicated they do inspections on a yearly basis but that this was a process and would take time to create from scratch. City Attorney Filla suggested the City begin with rental registrations to give the City an idea of the scope of the problem and number of homes involved. Councilmember Holden questioned what item the garbage cans fell under. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained this would fall under item two, Code Review and Amendments. Mayor Harpstead asked that the Council discuss fines. Councilmember McClung stated administrative fees would be the tool used most effectively and would reduce the need for full citations and court cases. Councilmember Holden questioned what offenses would qualify for an administrative fine versus the abatement pro~ess. Community Development Director Lehnhoff explained burning garbage, garbage cans, etc. He noted this could be greater defined by Council with the notification process which items would be violations with fines associated. Community Development Director Lehnhoff stated he would like to use the narrow scope of abatement whenever possible as this was the quickest form of action that can be taken by the City. City Attorney Filla noted administrative fines were under discussion by the League of Minnesota Cities. He stated the fees were not able to be assessed to the properties at this time. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 8 Councilmember McClung stated he was not looking for a program to fund itself, but to elevate compliance within the City of Arden Hills and to remedy non- compliance issues faster. Further discussion was held regarding the garbage can screening concerns. Mayor Harpstead questioned if the garbage can codes included composting and recycling containers. Mr. Scherbel stated these items should be added into the current Ordinance. Councilmember Holmes stated she felt the screening issue should be dropped and that they not be allowed in the front yard. Councilmember Holden suggested that the language referring to screening be greater defined within the Ordinance. Councilmember Holmes stated she thought there should be no regulations on garbage cans. Councilmember Holden stated this was difficult because not all properties had attached garages to store the cans. Mayor Harpstead asked if the Council was in favor of storing garbage cans outdoors, not forward of the principle structure and must be screened. The Council was in favor of this recommendation, but not the screening. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to continue with the accelerated abatement process, a written code enforcement response policy and report back at a future meeting on the Community Livability program. B. Johanna Marsh Purchase Request Park and Recreation Manager Olson presented the City Council with information regarding a request by Clifford Nimis who resides at 1485 Glenhill Road. She indicated he would like to purchase the property adjacent to Johanna Marsh from the City. His main concern was the possibility of future development of this site. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 9 Park and Recreation Manager Olson stated that this is ,unbuildable in its current state and would be difficult to develop. She recommended the City put a conservation easement on this property and not sell the property. Mayor Harpstead asked if the conservation easement was discussed with Mr. Nimis. Park and Recreation Manager Olson stated she did review this option with Mr. Nimis and that he was still in favor of purchasing the property. Councilmember Holden stated the cost of the conservation easement could be expensive and could set precedence for the next property owner fearing development near their home. Park and Recreation Manager Olson indicated the land would be difficult to ,sell to Mr. Nimis as it would need to be appraised, surveyed, etc. Councilmember Holden indicated she was not in favor of selling this property. Discussion ensued regarding the sale of the Johanna Marsh property. Mayor Harpstead indicated he would be willing to allow Mr. Nimis to pay for the cost of the conservation easement but was not interested in selling the property. Councilmember Grant stated he was not in favor of the transaction either. Councilmember McClung agreed. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to convey the Council's comments to Mr. Nimis. C. Upcoming Work Session Schedule and Topics City Administrator Moorse presented the City Council with an additional meeting scheduled for October 27, 2008 after the original Council meeting to discuss the Highway 10 overpass bridge, potential office expansion and the Council goal setting retreat. Councilmember Holmes indicated she would not be present at the Council meeting on October 2ih. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 10 Councilmember McClung stated he could only be present ifheld after the original Council meeting. Mayor Harpstead questioned if these items needed to be held within a work session meeting or if they could be discussed at the end of the Council meeting. Councilmember Grant suggested this be held after the regular Council meeting. Councilmember Holden questioned when the financials would be brought to the Council for discussion. City Administrator Moorse stated this was schedule to come before the Council in December or January. Councilmember Holden indicated she would not approve the master plan until the finances were reviewed again by Council. Councilmember Grant agreed. City Administrator Moorse stated he would get this item added to an agenda soon. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Councilmember Holden questioned if the comments from Mr. Willis would be worked into the goal setting session. Mayor Harpstead stated he had a rough draft of the minutes that he would review and report back to the Council. He suggested this be worked into the December 6th meeting. Councilmember Holmes asked if flowers were being sent to Ms. K vilvang as she is dealing with her mother's failing health. City Administrator Moorse stated staff was gathering information to send flowers. Councilmember Holden suggested a tree be planted for her mother. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 20, 2008 11 Mayor Harpstead stated a collection could be taken to purchase a tree. Councilmember Grant asked that future staff reports clarify who is making the recommendation to Council, whether it is an individual person or department. Mayor Harpstead adjou d the City Council Work Session meet. "'~"'''' /('\ (\..J 6:59 p.m. Ronald J. orse City Administrator