HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-05-2015 PH1 EvansCOUNCIL MEETING: 05 /�,,
ITEM NO.:
To: Mejia, Anthony
Subject: RE: Rental Inspection Ordinance ]DECEIVE®
MAY 0 4 2015
From: Pete Evans [mailto:riki77 @smail.com]
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015 7:31 AM SLO CITY CILFC l
To: E -mail Council Website
Subject: Rental Inspection Ordinance
I oppose this issue on many grounds. The most important one is the fact we are inundated with rules to
control these issues already. Imposing more costs (to be passed on the already beleaguered tenants) and
details to the lives of your flock is not helpful.
What you could do to mitigate stresses in neighborhoods is encourage the police to enforce noise and
nuisance rules. Alta Vista, Monterey Heights and other areas are in constant turmoil from loud and out of
control mobs of partiers at all times. I hear over and over the police are ineffective in policing these issues. You
could encourage more community spirit in neighborhoods, more effective access to elected officials (like when
you actually listen to us instead of just telling us). I went to a city staff sponsored community meeting a few
months ago, the (very nice) staffer spent about 90% of the allotted time telling us about the issue. The
remaining 10% was divided up between the 20 or so people trying to voice their concerns interspersed with
long comments from the staffer. So we got about 5% of the time to speak (divided by 20), and we didn't get
the feeling we were being'heard' other than being patronized.
And though some say it is out of town landlords and various investors taking advantage of (yet taking no
responsibility for) their rentals, and I agree that is an issue, there are many small time folks here trying to
survive a tough economy by renting out spots for needy renters in a 'hosted' environment whereby the
comfort and safety of the host is shared with the tenant. Some of those places might not survive a rigorous
inspection yet they are safe and comfortable -and quite often much more fun and creative than the little boxes
you might propose we live in.
The building codes call for unreasonable compliance in certain instances (I know our law and order crowd will
give no credence to this but what the hell, I speak for many). Though 'illegal' I know of some comfortable, safe
and sane housing elements that provide a service to both tenants and small scale landlords at an affordable
cost. Who cares if the walls are 7 feet high instead of 8 if all concerned are happy with it? Who cares if
someone rents out their spare room to a needy renter yet has not a whole spare designated parking space, if
there is no bother to the neighbors? What if the space has R 20 and you demand R 30 insulation (in our almost
never hot or cold environment)? Insulation has no value if people leave the door open or have bad windows.
Have you noticed the huge air leaks under the main doors of city hall and the county gummint center
(speaking of energy concerns). Have you (of course you haven't) noticed the sprinklers at Mitchell Park water
the cement walkways? Yet you propose to send out your troops to get us in line with some meaningless rules.
A large concern to me is the decreasing opportunity for some creativity in our lives. In a rush to judgement
previous city councils killed our Mardi Gras parade (because it was too popular), what many called the best
parade this side of New Orleans. Building codes drive us into channelized lifestyles. Everything is square, neat
and clean -and boring. All affairs are managed, organized, watched. The housing and commercial units you
approve are uncannily devoid of any personality or symbiosis with our once cute town. Those building codes,
when rigorously enforced, often attend to a problem that doesn't exist other than it 'isn't in the code'. That is
rigid and wrong. Health and safety should be the supreme issues, not blind obedience to standardization.
What you could do to improve our lives, revitalize the town and surrounding areas is to encourage or demand
developers and architects design and build more individualized structures that honor our humanity instead of
cramming people into white boxes. You could demand that downtown buildings remain small, attractive and
friendly instead of the boring corporate monsters you seem to so adore.
I urge you to let people breathe, quit piling more laws on top of laws. Do reasonable and compassionate
enforcement of what you have. You wrote a whole new ordinance because of one issue at one address, the
pot growers and the odor emanating from that. Isn't there a 'public nuisance' rule that could cover things like
that, parking, parties and noise etc? Did we need a whole new law just for that? Do we need a new law just for
this?
Pete Evans