Housing Code Exterior Enforcement InitiativeMasterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Housing Code Exterior Enforcement Initiative
DATE: September 2, 2010
Dubuque
krfrad
NI- AmerlcaCity
r
2007
One of the recommendations from the Safe Community Task Force is to "intensify
exterior code enforcement efforts." This comes from the public's sense that insufficient
attention is being directed toward improving the appearance of housing, particularly for
rental units, and that following the "broken window" theory that the condition of
neighborhoods can create an environment that seems more inviting to the commission
of crimes.
Housing Department inspection staff reached a goal in FY 2010 of reducing the rental
unit inspection cycle to five years; previously it had taken seven or more years to
inspect the City's 7500 rental units. The Department expects to improve on this even
more in this fiscal year, as more automated inspection features of the software system
are incorporated.
However, the appearance of many residential rental buildings remains substandard.
Visiting these properties only once in five years clearly does not respond to the need for
more frequent correction of code deficiencies.
In response to the Safe Community Task Force recommendation, City staff has
developed a proposal for a pilot program to inspect only the exteriors of rental dwellings,
as follows:
1. This pilot program would be established as a one -year initiative.
2. It would begin in downtown neighborhoods identified as most in need of
additional enforcement.
3. Housing inspectors would inspect only the exteriors of rental buildings, sending
notices to owners of all exterior code violations.
4. Inspectors would continue to respond to any and all complaints regarding interior
housing code problems, to all cases of elevated blood lead levels of occupant
children, and otherwise normally inspect all Section 8 Program units.
5. After one year, the impact of this approach would be evaluated.
The advantage of this pilot approach would be to inspect many more buildings than the
current practice of inspecting both interior and exterior conditions. Typically, a `cycle'
inspection (once in five years), is scheduled for one and one -half hours. An exterior -
only inspection could be completed in about 30 minutes. In theory, this increases the
inspection output in this demonstration year by 300 %. In other words, instead of
completing 1500 inspections /year (20% of the total 7500 units), this system would
accomplish 4500 exterior -only inspections in one year.
If these performance numbers are achieved, the result should be a dramatic impact in
the appearance of rental housing. A large majority of all downtown rental units should
be completed, where the need for more frequent inspections of 100+ year -old housing is
greatest. The impact on neighborhoods should be significant.
The downside of this initiative will be loss of interior inspection productivity. This will
delay inspection of 1500 apartments that would be inspected to insure the health and
safety of the tenants, which is a primary objective of our code enforcement program.
The City would, however, continue to respond to all complaints of rental housing
conditions.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Mi ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Safe Community Task Force
Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
David Harris, Housing and Community Development Department Director
Mark Dalsing, Chief of Police
Crenna Brumwell, Assistant City Attorney
Jerelyn O'Connor, Neighborhood Development Specialist
Phyllis Russell, Management Intern
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
TO: Michael Vanen, City Manager
FROM: David Ha ris, Housing and Community Development Department
SUBJECT: Housing Code Exterior Enforcement Initiative
DATE: 1 September 10
Dubuque
NI- AmedcaCity
11111r
2007
Introduction
The purpose of this memorandum is to propose a pilot program of intensified exterior
housing code enforcement.
Discussion
A recommendation from the Safe Community Task Force is to "intensify exterior code
enforcement efforts." This comes from the public's sense that insufficient attention is
being directed toward improving the appearance of housing, particularly for rental units.
Housing Department inspection staff reached a goal in FY 2010 of reducing the rental
unit inspection cycle to five years; previously it had taken seven or more years to
inspect the City's 7500 rental units. We expect to improve on this even more in this
fiscal year, as we incorporate more automated inspection features of the software
system we have developed.
However, the appearance of many residential rental buildings remains substandard.
Visiting these properties only once in five years clearly does not respond to the need for
more frequent correction of code deficiencies.
In response to the SCTF recommendation, we have developed a proposal for a pilot
program to inspect only the exteriors of rental dwellings, as follows:
1. This pilot program would be established as a one -year initiative.
2. It would begin in downtown neighborhoods identified as most in need of
additional enforcement.
3. Housing inspectors would inspect only the exteriors of rental buildings, sending
notices to owners of all exterior code violations.
4. Inspectors would continue to respond to any and all complaints regarding interior
housing code problems, to all cases of elevated blood lead levels of occupant
children, and otherwise normally inspect all Section 8 Program units.
5. After one year, we would evaluate the impact of this approach.
The advantage of this pilot approach would be to inspect many more buildings than if
we were to normally inspect for both interior and exterior conditions. Typically, a 'cycle'
inspection (once in five years), is scheduled for one and one -half hours. We would
expect to complete an exterior -only inspection in about 30 minutes. In theory, this
means we could increase our inspection output in this demonstration year by 300 %. In
other words, if we typically complete 1500 inspections /year (20% of the total 7500
units), then we could accomplish 4500 exterior -only inspections in one year.
If we can reach these performance numbers, the result should be a dramatic impact in
the appearance of rental housing. We should be able to inspect a large majority of all
downtown rental units, where the need for more frequent inspections of 100+ year -old
housing is greatest. The impact on neighborhoods should be significant.
The downside of this initiative will be loss of interior inspection productivity. We will
delay inspection of 1500 apartments we would otherwise perform to insure the health
and safety of the tenants, which is a primary objective of our code enforcement
program. We would, however, continue to respond to all complaints of rental housing
conditions.
Action Step
The action requested of the City Council is to authorize the Housing Department to
initiate a one -year pilot program of exterior -only housing code enforcement in rental
properties, in response to the recommendation of the Safe Community Task Force.