By Amanda Raymond
amanda.raymond@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY – More than 30 community members attended a public forum to discuss a proposed Remedial Action Program on Monday.

The Housing Advocacy Commission hosted a forum for the proposed ordinance that would hold landlords accountable for the crime and disorderly activity that happened on or in their properties.

The proposed ordinance is based on similar ordinances in Charlotte and Gastonia.

Under the ordinance, there would be maximum thresholds for crime and disorderly activity on a property. The thresholds would take into account the number of units in the structure and the severity of the incident.

If the number of calls to the police department exceeded the threshold, property owners would be required to attend a meeting with the Salisbury Police Department and code manager to create a remedial action program that would list specific actions to cut down on the amount of calls.

The properties would then be re-evaluated after three months to see if the plan worked or if more actions are needed. The properties would be re-evaluated again after another three months.

Free landlord training would be offered as a part of the program and participating landlords and property managers would receive email alerts about any disorderly activity that involved their properties.

The police department and code services would work together to administer the program.

If the situation is not resolved in six months, the case would be referred to the city attorney for legal action.

Barbara Perry, chair of the commission, said the commission has been working on the ordinance for almost a year.

Janet Gapen, Planning and Development Services manager, said the ordinance would be more for landlords who are experiencing repeated problems on their property.

“We understand that the vast majority of rental property owners, managers, landlords are following good practices,” she said.

Gapen also said the ordinance could be a way to build relationships between landlords, the police department and the city.

Attendee Linda White said she was surrounded by rental properties and wanted to know what neighbors of rental properties can do to protect themselves.

“What can we do to have a relationship with these landlords to protect (those who live around rental properties)?” she asked.

She brought up the death of A’yanna Allen, a 7-year-old who was shot at her grandmother’s home the morning of Dec. 4.

“We have to get rid of the crime,” she said.

Gapen said the collaboration between landlords and surrounding neighbors would have to be something the commission considers.

Al Heggins brought up concerns about how the ordinance will accommodate the Fair Housing and Violence Against Women acts.

As far as the Violence Against Women Act, Gapen said Charlotte’s program includes a list of specific calls and domestic violence calls are not included in that list. If the issue escalated into assault or another charge, that would be included on the list.

Elysia Demers said she thought that most of the landlords who would register for the program would already be good landlords.

“How do you plan on tackling the ones that aren’t part of the program and aren’t complying or can’t be contacted as we find so often with code violations?” she asked.

Gapen said the city can have difficulty contacting owners of abandoned properties, but rental property owners are easier to contact. She said registration in the program is voluntary, but the city would reach out to problem properties whether they are registered or not.

Some mentioned their difficulties in getting law enforcement to act on their tenants’ criminal behavior because they lack the proper evidence. Others said they were afraid people would go from rental property to rental property without the core issues being addressed.

One attendee said the plan is a good way to document issues that the police department cannot act on.

Nate Chambers, of Chambers Realty, said he thought the ordinance needed to coincide with what landlords would need to deal with evictions in small claims court. He also said the ordinance could help with absentee landlords, who may turn their properties over to local owners so they do not have to deal with the city.

Overall, some left satisfied with the discussion and confident that a good ordinance would be created while others were less confident.

White said she felt that the forum was more for landlords and less for the residents who have to live around problem properties.

“I didn’t feel like our needs were addressed,” she said.

Demers said she felt it was a positive meeting and the discussion was able to draw a good audience.

“It feels like they laid a good groundwork,” she said.

Gapen said the commission plans to have a draft ordinance ready and will hold another forum after the first of the year. They then hope to have the ordinance ready for the City Council to consider by early spring of 2017.

Gapen said she was surprised but pleased at the turnout for the public forum.

“I think it’s indicative that it’s an issue that connects with people,” she said.

Contact reporter Amanda Raymond at 704-797-4222.