 Good afternoon. Thank y'all for being here for the Public Safety Committee just a couple quick things Before I ask Reverend McDowell to bless this meeting Public Safety Committee is offshoot of Counseling when we have an issue that gets referred to this committee We meet and we discuss it and we go back normally a lot of our issues are handled by the whole counsel But today we have a review of the code enforcement policies by mr. David hasher and thank the chief and Madam city manager madam clerk Reverend and now will you mind saying a word of prayer before we start. Thank you, Mr. Let us pray Lord for this day and The business of this day and The graceful the great Gratefulness that we've already experienced We thank each person For being here today as we discuss discuss safety issues within our city Sensitize us to the needs of our citizens and yet undergird us with the kind of conversation That might continue to be fit The city of ours lord. We ask it in your name Mr. Hatcher mind coming forward please Thank you for being here is there Good afternoon members of council miss. William miss. William miss. Wilson. Excuse me. I'm having a hard time today and chief For those of you who don't know my name who are watching i'm david hatcher housing officer for the city of columbia in charge of the code enforcement division Thank you for taking the time today to hear my presentation The code enforcement division was merged into the columbia police department in july 2014 under the direction of columbia police chief skip holdbrook There we have been Several since then there have been several major ordinance changes since the merger and to include the residential rental ordinance the nuisance ordinance and the vacant building ordinance We've also had several major accomplishments in addition to these ordinances to include obviously the implementation of those ordinances The implementation of a commercial code enforcement program We implemented an intergov software to track our code cases into our reporting We implemented portable cameras for illegal dumping activity We implemented our mobile code enforcement program and since then we've we've received over 500 000 dollars in grants for demolition of substandard structures The last 18 months have been a major challenge for us and for the city as a whole with the COVID-19 pandemic The level of expected service that we provide to our citizens has remained constant While the level of staffing staffing availability availability of municipal court to prosecute cases and in-person interactions have drastically reduced Today the COVID threat is still active and very prominent in our day-to-day activities However, we're we're in a much better position than we were to enforce ordinances 12 months ago While there are several challenges that we face with enforcing codes Two major challenges are repeat offenders Two major challenges are repeat offenders, especially with rental properties and our ability to abate some violations More specifically with the rental ordinance The current point system for rental permits gives too many opportunities for landlords and tenants to create problems before we take any serious actions We also currently forgive these give the fees of the first five points that are assessed With 15 point allowance, we are allowing multiple violations to continue to occur at rental properties These points reset after 12 months Another issue another challenge is motor vehicles that are inoperable unlicensed or in major disappear Also referred to as abandon derelict vehicles As they are harboured for rodents and can be trapped for children We also have other challenges with staffing training accountability some limitations on serving summons that we are currently addressing internally Today i'm suggesting two major ordinance Changes specifically in the rental ordinance and the nuisance ordinance There are several other minor revisions that i'm going to propose in the future That will help clean up the ordinance some of the wording a little bit in the nuisance ordinance And give us more teeth with enforcement on tarps Overgrown shrubs and unmaintained landscaping With that i'll jump into the major ordinance changes i'm suggesting The rental ordinance as y'all i think most of y'all were here when it was passed and it's five years old Uh, we currently have about 27 000 registered rental units in the city In general it has been a very effective tool in improving The quality of life for renters and reducing issues at property subject to the ordinance Although most landlords are compliant We have some who repeatedly refuse to comply and or who are difficult to locate Like with any ordinance you'll have those who automatically comply with our with requirements Some that we have to encourage to comply Then others will not comply or even be made to comply We are testing a new policy to issue summaries via a process servicing company The intent is to use this service for property owners who live out of state that are unresponsive to our notices When abatement isn't really a viable option We're also assessing points and issuing summaries to tenants and landlords as often as necessary However, that doesn't seem to be enough to prevent repeat offenses Over the last three years we have averaged about 1,100 points on about 500 rental units That is about 2.2 points per unit when you calculate the average Of those units with points, we are finding about 20 22 of them are responsible for 63 of the points To me this illustrates that for the most part The majority of the points we assess are to repeat offenders David when is in the repeat offenders Is that new tenants Involved in that or is it the same tenants the same landlords? It could be I haven't looked individually to see what exactly I'm just looking at the overall numbers, but but Part of the issue with the when the points reset after 12 months I mean it could be new tenants The problem is after 12 months they get they get a fresh start. So we never really can hold the landlord accountable So with that i'm suggesting i'm suggesting we modify the point system Currently we assess one point for first violation Two points for second violation and five points for the third and each violation thereafter There is a 10 point assessment for serious life safety violations My suggestion is to amend the ordinance to assess one point for first offense five points for second offense And five points for each offense thereafter This gives some leniency for the first violation While discouraging any repeat violations The 10 point assessment for serious life safety violations would remain the same Additionally, I'm suggesting that we remove the exemption from the penalties that currently exempts the first 500 dollars or 100 per point for the first five points This is again to discourage repeat offenses Over the last few years we have collected about 5900 on average Each year for points violations If we remove the exemption we could see as much as 1111 thousand dollars in the fees collected annually Or alas if we can discourage repeat offenders, which would be the goal The next ordinance In general the issue of abandoning derelict vehicles located on private property occurs throughout the city However, there are certain areas where it is more prevalent Currently the city cannot tag an operative oral license vehicles for towing under sc code 56-5-5840 Like we do with vehicles that are in the right-of-way When the vehicle is located on private property when the property owner does not object to the vehicle being on the property That's in accordance with an attorney general opinion put out in 2009 which is included in your packet However, in sc code 56-5-5820 It provides that abandoned and derelict vehicles constitute a hazard to the health and welfare of this Of the people of the state and that such vehicles can harbor noxious diseases, furnish shelter and breeding Places for burning vermin And present physical dangers to safety of well-being of children and other citizens It is therefore in the public interest that the present accumulation of abandon and derelict vehicles be eliminated and that the future abandonment of such vehicles be prevented That's in state statute our nuisance ordinance already declares that abandoned derelict vehicles are a public nuisance we The code enforcement division gets a lot of complaints about abandoned derelict vehicles across the city They make up about 13 percent of our caseload Of the 674 cases we have open now 27 percent of them have been open almost a year now Currently to encourage abatement we we issue we're issuing some notices and summons as when we can Clearly identify violations. However, I think we need to add the ability to tow these vehicles when there is failure to abate by owner And those are vehicles that are currently not operable and not paying taxes, correct? Um And of course that would be a last resort as is when we didn't when we demolish properties That's the last resort and it would only be used in extreme circumstances um So to address this specifically Yes, sir And I know there may be a distinction, but when I look at cars that are abandoned What about cars that are say on both sides of the street? Has a business and that precludes Person turning off a main thoroughfare onto this street Passage on that particular street Is that something you do something that we could look at or is this something that chief? Probably a combination. I could really I could give you something specific But you've got you've got a business And on either side of this business, there are numerous cars From one end of a main thoroughfare all the way down How do we deal with that? Is that a code enforcement or is that cpd chief? It's it's probably a combination. I don't think the chief wants to say something It's probably a combination of things like parking services and police with the if it's blocking Traffic visibility or if it's on again if it's abandoned cars or stuff the code enforcement division might get involved If it's a garage like a towing facility or something like that Then um, there may be some zoning violations there Because they may have some limitations to how many cars they can have stored and I believe they have to store them on the property They can't store them in the street So there are there are a lot of things already in place for that It's by just a collaboration with multiple departments to I know it's probably the only code enforcement cpd In parking services That's correct, but you've got several places Several places on this main thoroughfare that has that those kinds of violations And I was wondering whether or not if collaborating with you and with chief and with zoning That we find a reasonable way to at least say to the owners of those businesses. You can't do that They've been full-worn So when we talk about abandoned vehicles, we're talking about Vehicles that needs to be worked on at this particular garage, but they continuously sit there Yeah, that's and obstruct traffic That would be that'd be one instance, but I think the the primary focus on this ordinance is on Residences where they have them have a bunch of property a bunch of vehicles stored on a property The towing businesses they have some exceptions Was zoning with how many cars they can have and how many can be operable and I kind of think I'm not really sure What that is but this ordinance is more directed towards the accumulation of abandoned cars and residential neighborhoods Well, I thought I just raised that just for the record. Yes, sir Because I'm going to be talking to you guys. I've already talked to zoning about it. Okay We've addressed them. I know councilman davis is probably familiar with some of them that we've had to address similar to what you just mentioned Because in effect In effect, you've got cars that that's just sitting there They aren't being worked on But they are just sitting there Calling some real obstruction When you come off a main thoroughfare onto this onto this side street That's correct So I know it's a different issue and I just want to make sure I understand the ordinance as it relates to abandoned vehicles But what about What about vehicles That supposedly aren't abandoned, but they are abandoned because they aren't being worked on but rather Being stored in the right way. Well, I think we already have an ordinance to address that was how to pull all the right people together and address it Yes, sir Vehicles So, um, it's just that That is a serious challenge That that I think we and I think some of it involves Somebody picking up the phone because of the the seriousness of the one that I'm describing It's one of those things you got to see to see to believe it and understand it And it's a question of whether we have folks that where we can pick up the phone and report it as we see or I'm sorry Mr. Hatchers explain really the spirit of The this ordinance is to address the abandoned vehicles and yards the points you all are making are real. This is wilson Pointing something out almost to exactly what you are describing to us You know recently and And it is a matter of collaborating with other entities in the city whether it's it's up, you know, our traffic unit our region units parking Or you know operations generally put some signage oftentimes what we see in some of these neighborhoods when you get off the main thoroughfare is a road that's that's Just it's just black top. So it doesn't have a center line and it doesn't have Lines on the side that indicate where the road, you know Technically stops. So you also have people that park on the roadway a little bit in the grass a little bit But they also go towards the the corner So sometimes we can we can remedy that or mitigate some of the Hazards by putting a no parking, you know From here to corner So people can have a line of sight and see where they're turning obviously want to see the direction of your turning Some of it may be zoning what we're allowing that particular business to do Especially if it's an auto repair how many cars they can have on the street How long they can have it there and that kind of stuff But those are really case by case that we need to look at to see what our best course of action would be You know trying to be fair but also, you know Never jeopardizing, you know public safety so It just requires, you know communication, but I think that there's certainly The visions and units within the city and the police department that can effectively address that Just sounds like we have us that there's there's a pathway for that We just need to make sure we get the right people to the right place and get them identified and address it Yeah All right, mr. Hatcher specific cases. Let me know that so we can I'll be happy to initiate that coordination But if you would be in touch with Rachel Rachel zoning She and I have had Several conversations about this particular situation Um And I think chief is on target Perhaps a sign would probably help from one block to the other Um, I think we could probably mitigate that very simply if there is some real collaboration But Rachel knows of that situation Richland street Um, she knows of that situation and perhaps some collaborative notion from From a two-knot road Halfway the block some similar to that So thank you. I didn't want to diverse but it was it's very important That we deal with this whole issue of abandoned cars But it's also equally important that when you turn off of a main thoroughfare And you've got a stripe down the line And of course both sides Both sides are tied up. It poses a real hazard and a danger So yes, if you do that for us. Yes, sir. I appreciate it. I I I'd like to share with you The instance from last night's meeting And that would take a one-time shot, but I'll do it after the meeting. Okay. Yes, sir Um, okay back to the nuisance ordinance. We're uh to address this in our ordinance so we can tow vehicles About line kind of were um with the help of legal where we would need to address that in the ordinances The first section would be 8 30 8 dash 31 d7 um, we need to add a line in there to make it Make it clear that violations ip ip mc, which is international problem maintenance code 3028 are included in the nuisance We also need to add a line that gives us the ability to abate in section section 8 dash 36 And and we also should consider revisions to section 8 39, which is liability for cost 8 39 already addresses the abatement cost to the city in curse for other abatement activities We would however it does not we'd have to add something that says that the owner Of the vehicle was responsible for all towing costs and storage fees if we decided to go that route Uh, lastly the penalties for code enforcement violations Currently outside of the abatement context code enforcement violations are prosecuted municipal court and they carry criminal penalties Many of the ordinance violations enforced by code enforcement including nuisance ordinances are subject to the general criminal penalty In city code one through five Which is a fine of up to five hundred dollars 30 days in jail or both Although criminal penalties tend to have the most impact with gaining compliance from citizens the collateral consequences of being found guilty of Violating and ordinance can be quite serious for individuals My recommendations we should consider establishing a non-criminal penalty For an administrative or administrative fee for a less severe violations Um and first offenses such as overgrowth litter rule cards that sort of thing So they're not getting a criminal record for these types of violations So your recommendation would be that you Depending on the situation Probably warn them and then you want to create a civil penalty schedule Will that schedule then have as people escalate up? One offense, two offense, three offense The find then grows Yes, that's our intent. Yes, and eventually it may end up being a criminal offense if it continues to At least at least it's not people don't have this criminal record on them forever for just not cutting the grass one time For real we'll be coming you'll be coming back with with that kind of scale Well, yeah, so the next one of the challenges being the length of time it's taking to eliminate Eliminate the offenses. So I think mr. Chairman If we could Kind of take a look at What you're really proposing is that right? Well, I guess I was going to ask you all this is on my last part would be the In summary, I've proposed two major Ordinance changes that I want to get some feedback from you on and what direction you want us to go I'm not sure of the exact process But I don't know if we need to go back to the committee or if we go straight to council Once we make those revisions, but I think that's what we're all here to discuss and work out I would recommend that it come back to the committee so we can review it and then from there go to council But I would I would recommend you come back with With your changes you recommend the changes the schedule for penalties How you see each one of those because I do think they're Probably instances where everyone here will have some comments thinking well, that's a bigger problem than than you envisioned We'd like that fine to be more or More severe depending on the situation I think that would probably be the the best route is to come back with a clear plan All right, here it is. Here's what we see as a civil penalty This is when it it grows to a criminal penalty. This is how we see the fines flowing This is how many offenses you're allowed before you take that next step to criminal Charges yes, sir So so as I guess the the question is the the ordinances I propose to you Is that something that we want to we want to pursue and go ahead and start making changes to see Yeah, I'm totally I'm in agreement with it and I think as soon as we we You know get something to really sink our teeth into As soon as we'll I think we'll all get some relief for me And the area I represent it is daily Give you an example of last night And there they are Things that impact the quality of life. I I'd like us somehow to As as we move through this to really consider How we separate Results for owner occupied versus rental. I mean it's all in one but it seems like Where we have the absentee landlords. That's our biggest challenge. I know we'll get into that But I think we really need to take another look at how we can Put some teeth in that at the same time that Take some we'll end up taking some pressure off of staff because we can't let Put staff in a car to go to illinois You know Make something happen on a particular case. Yes, sir And I was looking forward to To that kind of did you have you had something revving me down? Well, I think I think the way the chair has the protocol in terms of hearing the ordinance And routing this through the Quote-unquote normal procedures. I think that's the idea of a way to do that Which would of course necessitate would that necessitate another meeting based on what you just say yes Yes, yeah, I would be in favor of doing something similar to that It just gives us a real clarifying statement in terms of how the ordinance How the ordinance fits itself In the fabric of the council work and business I think you know is Is you come back to us with those two recommendations? One is the repeat offenders in the in the nuisance of baby I think on the repeat offenders I think it's very important that we talk a little bit more detail about the 22 percent of the 63 63 percent of the violations to understand exactly where those are And how we have that challenge not only on rental but unfortunately on also folks who have who own their home that That are guilty as well and how we're going to move forward with that Um, I do think it the more specific we can be the more ability y'all have to try to enforce it and correct it Even as y'all discussed earlier about the street parking and the sign once the signs up and people can don't have the excuse of ignorance It's there. Um, I think we need to be very um Deliberate And detailed about how we're going to make these changes so people are very clear and understand Um, and then also how you want to implement that what type of grace periods you're going to give people to To make sure that we notify them as well Because there's kind of to period a learning curve there for some folks, especially if we're changing the point system We're going from criminal to civil but then civil to criminal Then how that will work so we can make sure that we get that out to to everyone Who is it's listed as a registered? rental operator I want to make sure too Mr. Chair that we give you all some idea of the timeline so we can come we can I think pretty quickly come back David with these recommendations on the penalties and the fines and the escalation of it But when you when we do start imposing On non-criminal or civil penalties or fines, you know, we have to notice that those would be new fines that You know, we haven't had on the books so to speak so That what required notice period here at the I'm pretty sure So what how long in advance? 15 days So just keep that in mind. We can try to turn this back around to you pretty soon And if y'all want us to I know our goal was to try to get this on council's agenda in the upcoming meetings so From a from a staff perspective in a delivery Would it be fair if we met in november again? And then allowed you to have this and be able to be noticed on the council agenda Then be public notice so that you could proceed with this in 2022. Is that Yeah, that was the goal that we could I really wanted you ought to get your two readings in for the actual ordinance changes By the end of the calendar year um, so You know After November second to me, but until then, uh, I'm a little busy Okay I wonder why Yeah, I uh, let me let me let me say this. I think we've uh, we have As a as a city arrived at this point as a result of the process that we that we're going through now number one and Also We all move around the city differently Then for some reason there are certain perceptions out there Uh, I think as uniform as we can make these uh, the less Perceptions will be out there and that is that uh, there are some parts of the city that we care or don't care about And and then you have to respond to that or And when folks say well, just I can take you in the Car right now and take you to about 20 sites in 10 minutes. I'm sure you're talking about So I think the sooner we do this In a uniform manner the schedule I think makes sense The sooner we'll um Start to give some people we we love relief. There's one thing for us to observe The types of violations that's requiring these kind of uh, restriction, but it's another for the people who Uh Live next door three doors From these types of violations, you know, that's not like, you know, I'm I'm beat up But that's okay. You have to say it goes with the job They just want to know that we're going to fix the problem derelict cars in the yard growing up and that everybody knows that's a health violation and so forth and so on And there shouldn't be an excuse for things like that. It impacts property values Uh So anything we can do To help you guys give us that roadmap with with the necessary um responses, whether it's Find or whatever. I think I'm willing to go with it And I think we'll we'll we'll do good By by the people who really and truly care about their neighborhoods. I mean really And all renters aren't bad That's the first person to say that. Well 500 out of 27 pretty low number But it's still enough to cause Issues and neighborhoods We would be sitting here. Right. Very volume. That's absolutely right. Yeah And that's the bottom. Excuse me, mr. Chair Um, I think that's the bottom line the bottom line is I think procedurally going through this process Helps us to understand and helps the council to understand I mean the needs already there But I think it gives us a real opportunity to help that Help those communities that really find themselves in real credulous situations For help and they're asking for help. That's that's what they're asking for help And I think that's the bottom line for each of us Who who understands the issues in the community? I mean abandoned cars in the community man is I I mean it's you'd be surprised and I'm sure you guys get these calls all the time About abandoned cars in a neighborhood Whether they're in front of the house or whether they're Inside of the on the property scattered about Full downhill and I think that's the bottom line That sam Mr. Davidson's talking about and what chair is talking about I think we need to make sure that we're helping those folks and it doesn't become an issue That metastasizes itself over and over again last last point Um And I and I mean this we really need to Sharpen these so that they could be tools for you guys for the staff Because I Recall how difficult it had been over the years To get somebody to remedy some issues with the derelict building Those who don't believe me there was a time we were trying to chase them am I right Targary Down an aching to go to go that far to get somebody to come come back to columbia and deal with their building that was sitting on the major corridor leaning Sometimes we're leaning left sometimes it'll mean it right I remember that building we try to keep it And so we have that that has happened so anything to keep us from having to be faced with that Moving forward I think everybody would be Willing to work with you Matt I was going to ask madame clerk if she looking at the calendar Fourth going what you thought we'd have a good timeframe to try to have the next meeting so that we could stay in step with Advertising two readings and really making this something that could move forward so that David and his team along with I mean this is this is a tool for landlords to to weave this into their their Leases so they have the ability to deal with with unruly tenants and so forth I mean I wish more people treated their property like it was their property their rental property like their property, but We are where we are today Wow, Eric is looking at that timeline. Mr. Chair. Mr. Brennan couldn't be here to data listen in But he called me on the way and he's very supportive and interested in this topic as well but he was asking about um, there's certain platforms out there where the penalty the Rental properties and I guess the individual owners or whatever are in the system so to speak so the By the points or and or the fines potentially Are for public consumption in other words for people to see You know who's not doing what they're supposed to do I mean if you're doing too supposed to do I guess it wouldn't bother you what's shown but for those that are not And um, he was he said he'd had some community interest and I just probably came up before I told him David was familiar with these different platforms And it's something we've talked about But obviously we need to do a little more research on the cost for that And and if we can move towards standing something like that up I want it to be something that's actually beneficial to the staff You know if you get into having to input all the stuff, but at the same time it may also help y'all trigger I guess when certain things are due or when people are coming up on You know having too many points being assessed. Are you familiar? Aren't you familiar with some of those platforms David? Yeah, um, he mentioned gamesville Florida I think has one that seems to work well, but I just threw that out out there as we're discussing this for him I think that'd be that'd be great as you bring forth for our next meeting David Maybe a recommendation as well behind the technology that will allow y'all to track post And allow us to have access on a more readily basis Because it does help I think it's good for the out of out of town parents who were trying to look for rental establishments for their children that could look at the site and say oh, maybe I don't want to rent there Certainly a good resource Yes, sir I mean we probably could do this the first week in november That would that would be great because you really need an ordinance to advertise at least by mid november the third week in november Or you know the other option is do it the last week of october I mean if It's really the pressure is all mr. Hatcher to deliver as well to help me get these ordinances. Oh, they got they got time all day long I don't know maybe the sustained group. So so Mr. Hatcher has proposed ordinance modifications So in my understanding that you're these recommendations you're accepting and what really the The scope of what we're talking about now is we're supportive Of it as it is currently But the detail is where it all lies So once we can get the details and make sure that we're moving forward in the right direction But yes, we want to recommend the change to the rest of council the details concerning the the fee structure In the fines not not the ordinance changes were solid I think we're we're all comfortable Where we are I think it's real and moving to a civil makes a lot of sense for the examples you've shown and I imagine there's probably 50 more Categories that you want to touch on from roll cards to to litter to grass cutting to dead trees to Who knows Yeah, conceptually we're all there Yeah I just tell you The challenges of code enforcement has been A major part of my public life and There are some people In neighborhoods and then you know in the on the business side also that are looking for us To us for some relief And and you do your best to Assure them that we're not ignoring them And I would suspect also that We do this and do it right manpower would may be a challenge And we need to take a look at that as you as you move And we end up with a final A final package on on where we see how we see these things during implementation and Expected outcomes In these cases the outcomes of me obviously either something's happening or it's not happening I'm gonna have I wanted to get say this before I had to leave. I've got a group of employees waiting on me at belt line, but Honestly, I don't think that we I don't think this is gonna take david long I mean honestly if I had no we were just gonna get hung on the penalties that did it When we met about this it didn't dawn on me that the penalties were incorporated in What you were already recommending I really think we can turn this back around for you all for the sake of time and you know November and getting through two readings and of course noticing it properly since fines will be implemented If we could meet in another Two weeks if we can make that happen with you all schedules So a week from now we have a city council meeting that won't work. So you're thinking the 26th of October Last week on what? Uh, as long as it's before noon October 28th. I can do it before noon. I can't do it after lunch I'm wide open. So 10 a.m Let's go. Does that work? Does that work for you? 28 it's a thursday Sam, I'm good. Is that good for you miss wilson? Yes, sir. Mr. Hatcher. Yes, sir Okay, y'all good. All right. I got it on mine. It sounds like we got a meeting date Okay, that'll work. Thank you all so much. No, thank you. Thank you all It wouldn't be a meeting if you did I think we could elongate Thank you, sir, I appreciate that we appreciate David and that team is A lot of work and um, he does have some staffing recommendations too, but I didn't bring those to you I told him We would look at those going into the next budget cycle and I think they need to be looked at with This is a good example of why it's important that we have discussions and y'all bring that There's things that you see in the field That we don't see or we don't know about where we can make adjustments And I think the more things that we can create opportunities through training technology Adjusting ordinances so that y'all have some autonomy to do your jobs is going to be important I think that's all the way across the city and that's why I think this is important I really appreciate you taking the initiative Of looking at that and because you're hearing from folks all the time So you know what the issue is and what the hurdles are and I think this is a step forward to one make your job Easier and allow us to tackle a problem that has rippling effects In community. So thank you very much. David. Thank you chief And staff for being here today with that We don't be adjourned