SALISBURY — One week after an ordinance was introduced calling for tightening the rental property occupancy regulations, Salisbury Mayor Jim Ireton, Jr. this week lit up the agency charged with enforcing the policy over a perceived bending of the rules.
Last week, Salisbury’s Department of Neighborhood Services proposed an Occupancy Enforcement Policy due to an increase in over-occupancy violations around the city. In Salisbury, occupancy is limited to either a family, as defined by the code, or two unrelated individuals. There is a structure in place for fines and penalties for non-compliance for residents, landlords and property owners, but a spike in the number of violations forced the Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance Department to propose an ordinance tightening the enforcement.
The Salisbury Council approved the ordinance on first reading and it will likely come back up at the next session, but Ireton wasted little time this week setting a fire under the city’s Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals (HBAA) for its perceived lack of enforcement. The HBAA is a quasi-judicial panel that rules on, among other things, over-occupancy cases and the associated penalties.
In a letter to the HBAA this week, Ireton scathed the panel for its perceived lax ruling on a recent case at a time when the city is attempting to crack down on the problem. The case in question involved a rental property on W. College Ave. that was found to be over-occupied. However, acting within their discretion, the HBAA granted an adjustment that allows the property owners the rest of the lease period, or about four months, to remedy the situation without penalties or fines.
“The Housing Board of Adjustments and Appeals, acting within its discretion, essentially rendered Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance powerless to enforce our occupancy laws in this case,” the letter reads. “The definition of ‘family’ is quite clear and the law is meant to be upheld, not bent or skirted to serve landlords at the whim of the HBAA. If rental property owners know that the end game in any case brought before the HBAA is a get out of jail free card, why should they feel compelled to comply at all?”
The proposed legislation would allow for the suspension of a landlord’s unit registration or rental license for a period of three months for a first offense, six months for a second offense and a full year for a third offense. Ireton is seeking to add changes to the bill that would take discretionary power away from the HBAA. The council will take up the issue again at this next work session.