NHA Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2007

Meeting goals to review points and suggestions for change at the City level for request review or policy change by the City Policy makers.

Additional suggestions added to plan of action for positive change.

Added To Neighborhood Suggestions:
• Community investment groups to purchase foreclosed properties (this could also be city or non profit action).
• Communities or NHA create more sign programs similar to McKinley’s signs saying things like ”courtesy is not a crime“ or “ I look, I watch, I call”. Programs that encourage community involvement, making a visible presence, empowering homeowners…

Educational /Public Schools
• Education thru the school system on how to be a responsible citizen/appropriate community behavior and conduct. also issues of living within means recycling etc.
The goal is to help in better conduct by children and aid in ending generational poverty. There are research studies showing effectiveness of these types of programs,

New Suggestions for City Policy
General
• Create incentive programs for city/government employees to purchase properties in high poverty neighborhoods.

Licensing
• With any license for rental property rental property owners agree to a signed “code of operation conduct”, to maintain property request property owners do better back ground checks on rental applicants etc.
• Displayed with any rental license in property is a “Community code of conduct” for tenants of property.
• Create a license fee that has a refundable amount if there are no problems with the property thru inspections or police actions. Placing funds in interest bearing account.
• Multiple nuisance fines for to many calls to 911 or to many zoning violations.

Zoning
• Do a further review possibility of zoning caps for rental properties in neighborhoods of poverty.


To MPHA HUD RHA
• Maintenance checks for properties/ routinely inspect properties by inspections or an RHA inspections officer. , and if repairs made by section 8 tenants are not made there will be grounds for termination from program. This also applies to landlords.
• Neighborhood service centers to meet with community and handle complaints.
• Better Tenant screening (Suggestions added from Cincinnati RHA vs Homeowners settlement, Nikita Jones study).

A request was made to add all research data that has been found to the blog http://www.northsidehomeowners.blogspot.com.

Robert would work on getting it up in some form or hyper-linking the data that has been downloaded as PDF’s

The meeting then went to summarize strategies to move forward, suggested were:

• Individually send a drafted a letter to send to officials requesting change to policies.
• Sign a petition and present it
• Present our mandate for change to council members of community and or request
to be heard by the entire council.

Although many people in the room were for using all means to get the point across to request something be done to address the livability issues for Northside homeowners.

It was agreed to converse with Barb Johnson first and ask her to present the request to the city council and go from there. Heather Fraser volunteered to draft the letter, Connie volunteered to edit the draft.

The Homeowners who participated in the meeting were specific on targeting the problem of rental property in the community as being the issue which if addressed may have the most impact on creating positive change in their neighborhoods.

At this time NHA participants at the meeting agreed upon the following areas in which they would like to see City policies/ laws or ordinances changed.

In the areas of property licensing:
These conditions would apply to either the city as whole or communities with high concentrations of poverty or impacted.

1. Demand Increase in annual license fees for rental properties, from $57 to $500 per unit. This may have a refundable portion if there are no problems at the property, thru inspections excessive 911 calls.

2. Multiple license requirements for property owners who own more than 5 non homestead rental properties. This does not apply to duplexes where owner is living on residence.

3. Create a fine structure, for multiple nuisance property problems, those who use excessive 911 and other city services.

4. With any rental license for property the city apply a “operational code of conduct” and a tenant “code of conduct” to be displayed in the property.

In the areas of city zoning revisions:

1. Would request that since renting a property is a business, and a home is then being turned into a property which is being used for the business for rental: The city of Minneapolis revise the Conditional Use Permit Requirements. Create an unencumbered system to have these properties reviewed. Must notify all people within 300’ and require some form of review and appeal process for the property.

The participants agreed that we not meet in December but continue to promote the NHA to more homeowners over the period and resume in January. The meeting time will be announced, at that time possible actions would be to invite someone from MPHA to attend to discuss section 8 in community.

Another suggestion from email was to invite someone from the licensing or zoning department to discuss the suggestions we are moving forward in the plan of action.


Other suggestions from emails the last week...

Brenda also suggested we start sending Community Impact Statements (like the ones we're invited to do for crimes) to the city council! Use that tool they devised to give us a voice with the courts .... on them!

… it's the same issues as everyone else; crime, drugs, loud vulgar music, trash, unkept houses and too many rentals in one concentrated area.

… A few ideas I would like to suggest would be to enact a city code as too how many rentals per block. This would help to prevent block after block from turning into a slum area and give the homeowners who do live here a sigh of relief that every time a house goes up for sale it it can't turn into another slum house.
Another idea to attract new homeowners, first time buyers to our area is to offer a property tax break for the first 2 years. There are some wonderful houses here to be had for such a great price but so many don't think of the northside because of the bad rap we always get. Having an incentive to at least get them to look at the northside, maybe they will see the value and move in.

…..We need more homeowners, not people running away from the problem. We need neighbors who take a stand and fight the violence otherwise it will never change. I have a young toddler and I don’t want to raise him in this kind of community where he can’t go outside to play. I’m tired of being scared to walk around the block or walk down Lowry Ave and not feeling safe…..


Next meeting time date for January as yet to be determined.