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| State Laws Complicate Rental Rules |
By: By SUZANNE ROOK
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The opinion of a state building code expert could affect Northfield's proposed rental code and the city's ability to make landlords modify existing buildings.
In an April 9 letter, Scott McLellan, assistant director of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, said that a single-family home converted to a rental property does not constitute a change in its use. And because the use of the building hasn't changed, state law says the city can't mandate that landlords make alterations to the structures.
The letter, a response to a request by the city's prosecuting attorney, Tim Morisette, and attorney David Hvistendahl, sought McLellan's opinion regarding a criminal case the city filed against landlord Kenneth Malecha for failing to obtain a rental license. Hvistendahl is Malecha's attorney.
While the case isn't specifically related to the rental ordinance being considered by the city council, it appears McLellan's judgment would affect provisions in the proposal dealing with what's commonly referred to as "grandfathering."
In public meetings this week and last, city officials have stressed that any rental unit in the city not meeting the code when the new ordinance is adopted would be denied a license. The current proposal doesn't allow "grandfathering," an exemption of an existing rental unit from meeting new requirements.
Existing structures, including homes, aren't typically required to meet new requirements unless they are deemed unsafe, extensive renovations occur to the property or its use has been changed.
When a single family home converts to rental property, Hvistendahl said, "it's a change in ownership, not a change in occupancy. The change is in classification. The rental code can't vary from the state (law). The goal is to have the law apply uniformly throughout the state."
But Brian O'Connell, the city's community development director says nonconformity - the city's term for grandfathering - "is not applicable in the administration of license."
Among the most controversial changes in the rental ordinance proposal is the one requiring bedrooms with a single occupant to be a minimum of 100 square feet. Two occupants can't inhabit a bedroom less than 140 square feet.
If those rules are adopted, Northfield landlord Daryl Knudsen would be forced to shut down four of his 13 apartments. Another six could no longer be rented as two bedroom apartments. Instead they would be considered one bedroom units and fetch a much smaller price.
Not only is Knudsen worried about losing income and his future ability to sell his multi-plex buildings, but the effect such an ordinance would have on the city's affordable housing market.
"I look at this stuff," he said, "and think 'Oh my god, did they ever even look to see what the consequences are?' It's almost discrimination for those people who can't afford to buy a house."
'I don't need a lot'
Kurt Prond would be out on the street if the current rental ordinance proposal is approved. His bedroom measures just 90 square feet, 10 square feet shy of the requirements.
Prond, a St. Olaf College grad who works at Emmaus church, wants to live in Northfield where he works. But with student loan payments now due, Prond opted for a small apartment in his price range.
"I don't need a lot," he said. "I lived in a small place (a dorm) for four years. I want to pay off my loans rather than live in expensive housing."
The apartment, he said, "functions really well for me. I can't think of any reason why it would need to be bigger."
Like Prond, Sara Sanford rents from Knudsen and lives in an apartment that the current ordinance wouldn't license.
"The apartment would be invalid for 16 square feet I don't need," the Carleton senior said of her 84-square-foot bedroom. That's square footage she doesn't want to pay for. Sanford says she saves as much as $400 a month by living off campus.
"It's the only way I can afford to go to school," she said.
Sanford and other students who spoke to city leaders at public forms are also concerned that the city's college students are being unfairly targeted. "It sends a message that students are not wanted living in town," Sanford said. "If this (ordinance) were to pass, this would create feelings of hostility and tension."
Living in the community, she noted, has helped her see life outside what she termed "the Carleton bubble."
"It's the community legacy I'm worried about," she said. "I've met wonderful people in Northfield. I worry about that being gone."
Well maintained
Chris Ash is a Northfield resident who moved to town last year looking for a place to raise his young family.
It didn't take long for Ash, who lives near Carleton, to notice the increasing number of rental houses in his neighborhood, and realize the issues that come along with that increase.
Ash is a member of the East Side Neighborhood group that's organized and informed that area's residents on the problems that some rental unites in the area have caused. The neighborhood group has pressed for enforcement of the city's parking ordinance and asked for a limit on renters per house and for restrictions on the number of rental units in neighborhoods.
The proposal would allow 20 percent of the homes in areas zoned residential to be licensed as rentals. But Ash and others prefer a distance of 300 feet between units, saying it would distribute them more evenly.
Ash is also concerned about the off-campus homes Carleton owns that are used as student housing, as is City Councilor Noah Cashman.
At a city council meeting last month Cashman asked why the more than 30 homes are exempt from the rental code. Those structures and others near St. Olaf known as honor homes do not need to adhere to the code.
According to Rice County tax records 21 of the Carleton homes have more than three bedrooms, the maximum allowed under the rental code proposal.
Up to five renters would be allowed if a special permit is granted.
"It seems appropriate (the code) should also apply," Cashman said. "It is essentially rental housing, it's almost more intensive, more dense."
And though Ash wonders why Carleton is buying up residential property instead of building dormitories on its north side, the properties don't have blight issues other rentals do, he said.
"The upside to Carleton owning those homes - those homes are really well maintained properties," Ash said.
But why are college-owned properties exempt? O'Connell, the city's community development director, says it's because the colleges have a stake in keeping the properties maintained and the students in line. And just like with dormitories, it's in the best interest of the schools to keep the homes up and ensure students are following the college's rules.
Getting interesting
O'Connell doesn't believe the city's zoning ordinances and the proposed rental code send mixed signals.
The zoning ordinances allow two roomers in single family homes. They also permit, as a conditional use, those dwellings to rent a residential apartment located on their property. In both cases the homeowner must also live in the home.
"You have the right as an owner (to rent the property) ... but you can't rent it out until you have a license," O'Connell said. And to obtain a license, the property must meet regulations in the city's rental ordinance, which includes standards for room sizes, exits, available parking and more.
Cashman, the city councilor and a practicing attorney, disagrees, saying he believes the two are in "conflict" with one another.
The councilor also worries about the effect of the proposal's room size requirement. "It's a concern if you remove a significant number of units off the market," he said.
Trouble is, the city doesn't have figures to tell them to how many properties the change would affect.
John Brookins, the city's building code enforcement officer, said the proposal was developed from a review of codes in five Minnesota college towns. The bedroom square footage requirement came from a city councilor's comment that "70 square feet sure sounded awful small," Brookins said.
The Uniform Building Code, which the state and city follow, says habitable rooms can't be smaller than 70 square feet, a figure lower than the standard the Northfield's new code proposes to set. If such a law is adopted, the city would require rental units to meet a higher standard than new construction requirements.
According to state law, the "Building Code applies statewide and supersedes the building code of any municipality." And given that McLellan, the Minnesota building code expert, believes a change in use doesn't occur when a residential property changes from owner occupied to rental, such a requirement could prove unenforceable and be contested in court.
McLellan wouldn't offer an opinion on whether such an ordinance would be legal, saying he wasn't an expert on rental housing, but did say "things could get interesting" if such a provision were enacted.
O'Connell, however, has no such doubts, believing the city is well within its rights to require rentals to meet a more stringent standard.
Knudsen, the landlord, says he doesn't believe it's the city's intention to shut down (rentals) and cause a burden to landlords. "I believe ... they would like to find a win-win situation."
Councilor Cashman, too, wants a resolution that's amenable to all parties - neighbors, renters and landlords. But says it's going to take more work.
"It's a matter of sitting down and going through the code one piece at a time with everybody's input and making sure everybody's voice is heard."
- Suzanne Rook can be reached at srook@northfieldnews.com or 645-1113. |
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