HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/26/2026 Item 5a, Price, B.
Barry Price <pricebarrya@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, May
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:March 26 Special Meeting, Item 5a - Code Enforcement Priorities
Dear Mayor Stewart, Council Members, and Staff:
Thank you for the thorough report on code enforcement priorities. The staff should be commended for
their work on the report, which revealed that tenant-occupied substandard housing investigations are
the second most common request to Code Enforcement (CE) in recent years (260 requests from 2023-
2025). Other investigation requests which are likely to impact renters include unsafe occupancy (40
requests) and health and safety violations (115 requests).
It is clear that we need more CE Officers and Technicians to accommodate the growing case load. We
need to shift the focus away from abandoned shopping carts, waste containers, and other “property
maintenance and neighborhood condition issues” that don’t directly impact public health and safety,
and prioritize substandard housing and health and safety issues. We need to enforce habitability
standards more effectively and proactively. We need better enforcement tools and the courage to use
them.
To achieve stronger housing safety enforcement and reduce excessive case duration times, that can
spool out for months or years, CE can adjust its current practices and:
Adopt a comprehensive case management strategy and more thorough case tracking;
Apply shorter compliance deadlines;
Make more regular follow-up inspections;
Increase direct correction of dangerous or chronic conditions (abatement with cost recovery);
Expand use of formal enforcement pathways;
Limit hearings and appeals, while preserving due process;
Improve communication and data sharing between the Safe Housing and Fire departments to
ensure proper coordination and follow up on fire and life safety inspections.
The amount of staff time and effort already devoted to noise-related complaints in the Cal Poly
neighborhoods seems excessive and should not be expanded further. The best way to regulate fraternity
and sorority houses is to hold Cal Poly accountable for their failure to comply with their strategic plan.
The burden should not be on the City to expend its scarce resources to control a situation that was
created by the University and which they fail to acknowledge or address.
The staff reports on numerous proactive enforcement measures taken against fraternities and sororities
to identify violations that are not formally reported. If the City can make the substantial investment of
staff time needed to address these violations, why can’t it do the same for safe housing violations, which
affect a far greater number of residents and often go unreported?
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It appears that the sharply rising volume of complaints against fraternities and sororities is generated by
a small handful of people. That same time and effort put into the Safe Rental Housing program would
benefit the nearly two-thirds of the City who are renters. When will we put those same tenants who have
been overlooked by our politics at the heart of our policies?
The City enjoys robust statutory authority to address unsafe structures, public nuisances, and
deteriorated housing conditions in order to protect occupants, neighboring properties, and the broader
community. Staff highlighted several new laws that reflect a statewide shift toward stronger housing
safety enforcement, increased protection for tenants, and proactive identification of hazards. I urge you
to provide the resources and staffing needed to enforce this new legislation affirmatively, particularly SB
1485 (2024), which mandates that the City enforce the State Housing Law. The City should also require
third-party qualified professionals who conduct safety inspections under SB 721 (2018), SB 326 (2019),
and related authorities to submit their inspection reports to CE within 10 days of completion.
I close with a quote from page 30 of the staff report:
“Because the City does not maintain a comprehensive inventory of rental properties, the Division
does not have a complete picture of where rental housing is located, limiting the ability to conduct
targeted communication, trend analysis, or preventative outreach.”
Ahem.
I urge you to shift staff direction away from reactive, individualized short-term responses toward more
proactive, long-term strategies to protect tenants; preserve existing affordable housing;
and produce more affordable and homeless housing.
Sincerely,
Barry Price
San Luis Obispo, CA
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