Springfield to investigate rental code

Springfield is investigating whether a rental code could help the town get a handle on drug crime and violence.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20121024/NEWS02/710249861

Published October 24, 2012 in the Rutland Herald Springfield to investigate rental code By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD – Springfield will investigate whether a housing rental code will help the town get a handle on violence and drug dealing, which many believe come from the rental community. The Springfield Select Board voted 4-0 on Monday night to refer the matter to the town’s zoning officer and design review board for research. Select Board member Stephanie Gibson said the rental code could help both renters and landlords. But, she said, the question still had to be answered whether it was the right answer for Springfield. “It is worth going down this road? We have a responsibility to better the town,” said Gibson. Town Manager Robert Forguites said the move in favor of a rental code came from concern about downtown violence and drug dealing. The town was in the process already of reviewing its ordinances on the books, Forguites said, resulting in the suggestion. “As part of the ordinance review process, we’ll be looking at a number of things. Some towns have a rental code, but it doesn’t mean it will be adopted here. But it is something to look at and see if it fits,” Forguites said Tuesday in a follow-up interview. The idea of a rental code ran into immediate opposition Monday night from Select Board member David Yesman, who is a real estate agent and landlord. Yesman, after discussing it with other board members, voted in favor of the referral to the town’s design review commission. Select Board member Michael Knoras, who is a member of the ordinance review committee, said the town wanted landlords to enter into contracts with renters, which would give the landlords more power to evict troublesome tenants. Town Attorney Stephen Ankuda, who attended Monday night’s meeting, said Springfield would be looking at rental housing codes from both Brandon and Burlington. He said such a code could be a benefit to both landlords and tenants, although it carried a heavier administrative cost. “It’s not just a one-way street,” Knoras told Yesman. But, Knoras said, “if we can’t enforce it, we shouldn’t have it.” “I’ll have to see the ‘level playing field’ part of it,” said Yesman. “I’m a landlord and I don’t want the town of Springfield telling me what I can do. I don’t like it, plain and simple,” said Yesman. The design review committee will hold hearings on the proposal, said Select Board Chairman Kristi Morris, who said the town was looking for all sides to get involved. In addition to a rental code, the town is looking to add a requirement for certificate of occupancy for existing structures that undergo renovation. Ankuda said that a goal of a rental code was to promote “access to safe housing” and to “promote fairness and safety” in the town’s rental units. Yesman said he had been in many apartments in town that “aren’t fit for human consumption or occupancy.” He said he was all for a rental code if it could be enforced. Select Board member Peter MacGillivray wasn’t present at Monday’s meeting. Forguites said he wasn’t sure how many rental units there were in town. There are a large number of rental units owned by the Springfield Housing Authority and the Windham Windsor Housing Trust. According to the proposed 2012 Springfield Town Plan, in 2000 there were 1,262 rental units in town out of a total of 4,232 units, or about 30 percent. But many people believe the number has grown in the past 10 years, as many of the large, historic homes in the downtown area have been cut up into several apartments, Forguites said. During a review of the 2012 Town Plan on Monday evening, Bill Kearns, the town’s zoning administrator, said the planning commission believed that Springfield had too big a share of Windsor County’s subsidized housing, putting too great a burden on town services and educational programs.