Landlords, builders still against plan elements

|tab|

Certain elements of a vision for better living conditions for residents of Springfield in 20 years are still not eye-to-eye with the interests of the Springfield Apartment and Housing Association, the Springfield Board of Realtors and the Home Builders Association of Springfield. |ret||ret||tab|

"We're not opposed to the Neighborhoods Plan Element at all ... what we're opposed to are just a couple of elements of the plan that we hoped they would change before they send it to council," said SAHA Executive Director Lynn Richards said. |ret||ret||tab|

The Neighborhoods Plan Element of Vision 20/20 was endorsed by the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission May 25, after feedback from the groups in a March public hearing caused the document to be reworked by city staff. The plan is tentatively set to go before City Council for a first reading June 26, according to city Senior Planner Brendan Griesemer. The plan will not become law but is an idea document to act as a guide for city planning for the next 20 years, like other Vision 20/20 documents already adopted, Griesemer said. |ret||ret||tab|

Richards said the groups will next address council about their concerns. Five areas of concern, which are as follows, were identified by the groups in the March public hearing:|ret||ret||tab|

Code inspections at time of sale. This idea was deleted from the document.|ret||ret||tab|

Housing court. This idea was also taken out the document. |ret||ret||tab|

Systematic inspections of rental property. This section was changed to remove the word "systematic" and left in the document.|ret||ret||tab|

Housing design. This section was altered slightly and left in the document. |ret||ret||tab|

Registration and inspection of rental property. This section was left in the document unchanged. |ret||ret||tab|

"(City planners) did make some changes we had asked for, so we didn't get everything we asked for but we certainly got a lot of it," Richards said. |ret||ret||tab|

She said the SAHA is opposed to the registration and inspection of rental property paragraph in the document because it contains a section on requiring tenant occupancy permits and because inspections of rental property would cause property owners to have to wait on city inspectors to inspect the property before renting the property. The tenant occupancy permits, which are already in use in neighborhoods near SMSU, are a way to address overcrowding problems. |ret||ret||tab|

"I'm not sure that rental property owners are in a position to where they should have to tell the city who is renting from them, but that's a side issue," Richards said.|ret||ret||tab|

She said the members of the Vision 20/20 committee don't make their living in the rental industry, and therefore don't understand the effects of the policies in the neighborhoods plan. |ret||ret||tab|

"The basic economics of these policies are, if you have someone who has moved out of a property and you're waiting for an inspection before you rent it to another tenant, you're not making any money. This city is not prepared to pay for more inspectors," Richards said. |ret||ret||tab|

Richards said the system in place for property inspections works, and is not sure why it needs to be changed. Property inspections are conducted on a complaint-only basis. |ret||ret||tab|

"It works. A lot of the complaints come anonymously. If there's a code violation, property owners need to know about it," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

Richards said the rental property industry is already governed "to the max" and does not need any more regulation. "Our new Missouri Red Book is a great example of all the landlord-tenant laws in this state. Then you put Fair Housing on top of that, then lead paint laws on top of that, fair debt collection on top of that. As far as the local government getting in on the act, if there's a need for more government in the industry, I think it needs to be proven," she said. |ret||ret||tab|

Stephanie Stenger Montgomery chairs the HBA's Planning and Development Committee and said in a previous issue of SBJ that the HBA feels the city should not be involved in the design of homes. The housing design section referred to specific suggestions to the design of homes and apartment buildings. |ret||ret||tab|

"That should be something the marketplace dictates," Montgomery said. [[In-content Ad]]