Rental Permit Bylaw Upheld

Attorney General approves a bevy of Amherst Town Meeting bylaws

The road to the most important legislation passed by Town Meeting in over a generations has been rocky to say the least.  The Rental Registration Bylaw was bitterly opposed leading up to Town Meeting last Spring where it passed by a surprisingly w-i-d-e margin.

According to the state's Top Cop, "We acknowledge the letters and emails sent to us opposing the amendments adopted under Article 29 (Rental Registration Permit).  Interestingly the Attorney General's office goes on to say, "While we cannot conclude that any of these arguments furnish a basis for disapproval of the by-law, these letters and materials have aided our review."

One section of the bylaw states a registration form should be submitted to the "appropriate Town office."  Which in this case is the Principal Code Official (Rob Morra, Building Commissioner).  The AG has suggested the town clarify that section of the bylaw to identify the Principal Code official as the rental czar who issues permits, and can issue exemptions.

Apparently landlords had problems with the section of the bylaw that requires tenants to be made aware of the provisions of the new Rental Bylaw and inspection system, and that a copy of the lease be provided to the town.   The charge was that this is a violation of the "prohibition against regulation of a private civil relationship,"  which was used to strike down "rent control."

The AG found that section permissible because it is specifically limited. The boiler plate language in the bylaw clearly states: "Subject to and as limited by the Constitution of the Commonwealth."  So if a landlord finds something in the permit bylaw requirements that violates the state Constitution, then they can safely ignore it.

The new bylaw also requires the Select Board to appoint a Rental Appeals Board, to act as ombudsmen to help resolve issues amicably.  

Is the $100 permit fee a tax and therefor illegal because a municipality "has no independent power of taxation"?  The Attorney General thinks not. "Fees are collected not to raise revenues but to compensate the governmental entity providing the services for its expenses."

And in this case the Building Department has to hire a new full-time building inspector and administrative assistant to help oversee the program.  Amherst has identified 1,570 rental properties with a total of 5,265 individual rental units. That's a lot of oversight!

As of yesterday the Building Commissioner has received 160 applications (85% of them filed via the Internet) and issued permits for 56.  Or just a tiny bit over 10% of the rental properties in town. 

The law takes effect January 1st.

Town may want to think about stepping up PR outreach effort

If It Ain't Broke ...

 

Maurianne Adams, Phil Jackson, Rob Morra (Building Commissioner)

The Rental Bylaw Implementation Group heard a detailed report this afternoon from Building Commissioner Rob Morra on the implementation of the new Amherst rental registration and permit bylaw which went into effect January 1st

Originally it was thought the town had 1,570 rental properties that needed to comply, but after a mailing to all of them Morra reports a number of phone calls from homeowners who should not have been on the list.

After the dust cleared, about 1,300 properties remained.  So far just over 1,000 have paid the $100 fee, filled out the forms and received their permits.

18 have already gone before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a parking permit or to remove a "owner occupancy" condition on their original Special Permit and another 40-50 remain in the pipeline for Zoning hearings.

But that still leaves around 250 who are not in compliance and do not seem interested in coming into compliance.  Next week the town will send them a "more formal notice of violation" with a short two week time frame for coming into compliance.

If not, the Building Commissioner will issue fines which will be enforced by Eastern Hampshire District Court.

Morra reports that the 250 outliers are almost all "absentee owners" and that local well known landlords have been extremely cooperative, as has the Zoning Board of Appeals with rental housing related cases.  

Amherst police Chief Scott Livingtone has agreed to work with the town's Information Technology department to allow Noise and Nuisance tickets and arrests to be made available on the Amherst Rental Permitting page of the town website.  Morra hopes this will happen over the summer.

Currently the database only includes building code and zoning violations.  Considering the impetus for the entire permit system was the noxious influence party houses were having on neighborhoods it only makes sense to include police data.

 Vince O'Connor, a 40 year Amherst rental tenant

The Committee also heard from Town Meeting member Vince O'Connor, who filed a petition article (#42) to, "suspend the operation and enforcement of the bylaw" until after a new more inclusive committee is appointed by the Moderator consisting of 8 Town Meeting members -- four of them tenants (but one has to be an undergrad student) and four homeowners (at least one a rental housing owner).

In other words a do over.

O'Connor has now amended the article to take out, "suspend the operation and enforcement" of the bylaw and the new committee of eight would simply review the current Self-Certification Checklist and make suggestions to the Town Manager, Select Board and report to Town Meeting in the Fall.

Morra and three-out-of-four members of the Rental Bylaw Implementation Bylaw Group, while remaining polite, did not seem overly impressed with Mr. O'Connor's idea. 

Devil In The Details

 

Building Commissioner Rob Morra right, Pat Kamins on his right

The Safe & Health Neighborhoods Working Group -- perhaps the most successful committee in recent history in a town overrun with committees -- has begat another working subgroup also appointed by Town Manger John Musante tasked with planning  "implementation" of the Rental Permit bylaw.

Amherst Town Meeting  overwhelming passed the historic bylaw on May 20th, and it goes into effect January 1st.  Building Commissioner Rob Morra told the new group today that he has an "aggressive schedule" in mind to make that January 1st deadline.

The estimated number of properties that will require registration is around 1,500 

Three of the four Rental Bylaw Implementation Group members attended today's kick off meeting -- Pat Kamins, property manager, Phil Jackson, homeowner, Maurianne Adams, member of  Coalition of Amherst Neighborhoods.  Jacob Lefton, a tenant and frequent critic at the Safe & Healthy Neighborhood Working Group meetings, is the fourth member of the group but was on vacation.

 Other side of the table.  Phil Jackson center

One major complaint about SHNWG was the lack of a tenant on the 15 member committee.

At one point the fledgling Rental Bylaw Implementation group was outnumbered 4-1 by concerned citizens who came to the meeting -- for the most part -- to complain about the new system.  The committee has decided to have a "public comment" period as part of their meetings as did the Safe and Healthy Neighbourhoods Working Group.

Rob Morra said the implementation of the new system is being done in-house and he hopes the Information Technology department will have a system in place by October 1st for online registration and one stop shopping cart for all the forms required to make the system work.

The Amherst Select Board is scheduled to discuss and vote on a registration fee in late September.  The Safe and Health Neighborhood Working Group already recommended the fee be set at $100, but it remains to be seen if multi-unit owners or large apartment complexes will pay that fee per unit or just once per mailing address.

For instance will Rolling Green Apartments pay $100 or $20,400 to register all 204 units at their 1 Rolling Green Drive location?

The Rental Bylaw Implementation Group  scheduled meetings for three consecutive Tuesdays next month: September 10, 17th and 24th.

The rental permit system is the town's response to a chorus of complaints over the past many years about overcrowded, unsafe, disruptive rental housing owned by absentee landlords preying on tenants in a very tight rental market.

Coming soon

100% Compliance!

Building Commissioner Rob Morra, head of the table

The Rental Bylaw Implementation Group heard nothing but good news this afternoon from Building Commissioner Rob Morra:  All 1,261 rental properties in the the bustling little college town of Amherst are now in full compliance with the bylaw overwhelmingly passed by Amherst Town Meeting last May.

Morra told the committee that originally using assessor records the number of rental properties was pegged at 1,575.  After the first bulk mailing, however, about 300 let it be known that they do not rent out any part of their property.

Taking a hint from President Reagan the Building Commissioner used a "trust but verify" methodology to confirm they were indeed not renting, and he continues to keep those properties on a "watch list".

About 30 property owners out of the 1,261 did not take the bylaw seriously and continued to ignore requests to come into compliance.  They were issued $100/day fines and soon enough ALL of them became believers.

But not before $8,000 was collected in fines, with the most stubborn landlord accounting for about $3,000 of that.

In total, the Rental Permit Bylaw has generated $126,100 in registration permit fees ($100 per property times 1,261) plus the $8,000 in fines for a total of $134,100 this Fiscal Year, FY14.

Yellow pins indicate APD actions taken

The other equally major piece of good news is the town website for all things rental now shows properties that have been warned or cited (or arrested) by APD for noise and or nuisance complaints over the last year or so.

Neighbors can now track the major offenders.  Once three complaints appear under a yellow pin in a single location, that property is potentially subject to a revocation of the rental permit.

Democratic Bully Pulpit

 

Vince O'Connor on the attack

Vince O'Connor is now 1 for 2 after last night's epic fail at an attempt to hack 10% from the Planning Department budget, which was to go hand-in-hand with with his 79-74 victory Monday night to increase Social Service spending (charitable organizations) by $125,000.

So obviously many of the 79 Town Meeting members who supported his motion to bring Social Service spending back into the routine budget disagreed on his version of financing that.

Even though Mr. O'Connor last night backed away significantly from his original plan to cut $200,000 from Planning Department by reducing the amount to $100,000 -- still a 10% cut. 

O'Connor also appeared yesterday afternoon at the Rental Implementation Bylaw Group to discuss his other (of many) Town Meeting articles, #42, which originally would, "suspend the operation and enforcement of the Rental Permit bylaw" until a new more "inclusive" committee is formed.

Yeah just what Amherst needs: yet another committee, working group, or task force.

This too he has now watered down significantly by removing the threat to "suspend the operation" and now simply wants the new committee to make recommendations.  Building Commissioner Rob Morra will take Mr. O'Connor's suggestions to the Town Manager and if he buys in to the grand scheme O'Connor will move to dismiss Article #42.

Kind of a toothless threat since Town Meeting overwhelmingly supported the Rental Permit Bylaw last year  and like all new bylaws it also had to pass muster with the Attorney General.  And yes some folks (parties with a vested interest no doubt) tried unsuccessfully to sabotage that.

Plus Article #42 is last on the list of a l-o-n-g Warrant.   When the weather turns terrific with thoughts drifting to summer vacations, the last thing Town Meeting members want to do is listen to Mr. O'Connor drone on, and on, and ...

Building On Rental Success

Mandi Jo Hanneke, Rob Morra (Building Commish), Pat Kamins, Maurianne Adams

Building Commissioner Rob Morra told the Rental Bylaw Implementation Group this afternoon that after 18 months the new Rental Permit Program is going better than expected but could still be improved -- most notably via a strengthening of the bylaw.

The second Fiscal Year of operation started July 1st and by the end of the month 1,260 properties had renewed their permits, almost exactly the same number who enrolled the previous year.

About 30-40 new properties joined the list but about that many dropped off because they were no longer renting, so it was pretty much  a wash.

With the $100 annual fee the program generated a $126,000 in revenues while break even for administrating is probably in the $165,000 range, a target figure that was given to Town Meeting two years ago when the program was first enacted.

The Town Manager could possibly consider a fee hike next year to increase revenues, bringing the program to a break even mark.

The main change Morra would like to see is the ability to (re)inspect properties that have been the subject of complaints and found by his department to be in violation of building/health codes.  In Fiscal Year 2014 his department found 214 violations.

Currently a landlord "self inspects" the property and town inspectors only become involved when a tenant lodges a complaint.  Morra pointed out that in some of the most egregious violations found the landlord/manager had checked off the self inspection form indicating that all was fine.

Kind of like what Iran nuclear self inspectors will be doing in the near future.

The Rental Bylaw Implementation Group was not overly enthusiastic about strengthening the bylaw just now (but maybe in the spring of 2017) to allow for mandatory inspections, siting mainly privacy concerns.  They also wish to see data to show how many of those 214 violations last year were repeat offenders.

Another idea presented by Morra was also met with wariness, also due to privacy concerns:  A joint task force made up of police, fire, health department and the new UMass neighborhood liaison (Eric Beal) with a mission to tour a usual suspect street or neighborhood.

The goal would not be to simply hand out enforcement tickets but to educate and inform residents of their rights to live in a safe rental property.  Morra thought if the pilot program does come to fruition it would kick off in late September or sometime before Halloween.

The Rental Registration Bylaw was overwhelmingly passed by Town Meeting two years ago as one means of bringing rowdy Party Houses under control, but mainly to prevent tragedies that can occur when slum lords have free reign.

So far this important public safety program is two for two.

The Dirty Dozen

 

 407 North Pleasant Street, owned by Gamma Inc Alpha Tau 

The Amherst Rental Registration & Permit Bylaw that went into effect January 1st affecting 1,300 properties in this rental dominated "college town" now has an astounding 99% compliance rate. 

Only 12 properties -- some with the same owners -- have failed to heed the warnings of Amherst Building Commissioner Rob Morra, and will be brought to Eastern Hampshire District Court in the very near future.

The Rental Registration Bylaw is an attempt to bring law and order to a Wild Wild West mining town where the attraction for boatloads of people is education rather than gold or silver.

With restrictive zoning and well organized NIMBYs, housing production -- especially student housing in a town with the lowest median age in the state -- has been almost non existent over the past generation.

Thus supply and demand is out of whack, resulting in higher prices forcing out families and low-to-middle income workers, residential one family-house conversions to student rooming houses and all too many noise and nuisance complaints in residential neighborhoods.

The new Rental Registration and Permit bylaw is working.  Now we need to tweak zoning.

Code enforcement is a key ingredient

Improving On Success

APD Chief  Scott Livingstone addresses Rental Bylaw Implementation Group

The Rental Permit Bylaw has become perhaps the most successful local government health safety initiative of the past generation, protecting tenants from (the few) shoddy landlords while motivating them to keep tenants behavior in check or risk losing their permit.

Now, only one year after start up, the certification program boasts 100% compliance of all 1,261 rental properties in Amherst, a college town with a high percentage of rentals and the lowest median age in the state.

Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone paid a visit this afternoon to the Rental Bylaw Implementation Group to discuss ways to improve on the already resounding success of the program, specifically by allowing easier access to police records of that neighborhood bane, noise/nuisance issues.

The Chief told the committee that noise/nuisance complaints are not the highest priority for police response, so on a busy weekend when the weather is nice the call response can be delayed by an hour or more.  By the time police arrive the party or noise is sometimes over.

Currently the system  tracks noise/nuisance complaints if a formal ticket or warning is issued to a property.  But committee member Maurianne Adams wishes to see the system capture complaints made against a residence whereby no formal action was taken by officers, perhaps due to a delayed response.

Chief Livingstone confirmed the rowdy behavior that has disrupted neighborhoods for too many years, has improved significantly:  In 2012 APD had 1,064 calls for service relating to bad behavior and only two years later, in 2014, those calls decreased over 40% to 617.

The Chief attributed this dramatic reduction to outreach work done by his officers -- following up noise complaints the next morning for instance -- extensive publicity shining a light on bad behavior, neighbors taking it on themselves to try to resolve issues, and "peer group" initiatives undertaken by UMass and the Student Government Association (Walk This Way and Team Positive for instance).

One problem with increasing transparency of police calls via the town website is APD's computer system does not get along well with the town system used by Building Commissioner Rob Morra.

But Chief Livingstone liked the idea of sharing this information and planned to take it up with his senior staff and Information Technology person later this month. 

Rental Permit Bylaw: Halfway Home

Building Commissioner Rob Morra reported to the Amherst Select Board this evening that the town's new Rental Registration process is going well, with 741 applications received out of a total of 1,570 (47%) properties that need to register.

The new law went into effect January 1st and requires all landlords to pay $100 annual fee for a permit.  The process includes submitting a parking plan and completing a self certification checklist acknowledging basic zoning and health & safety concerns. But the process can all be easily accomplished on the town website. 

Also neighbors or concerned citizens can file complaints about rental properties with the town or find the name and contact information for a rental property owner to take it up with them first.  

A map with color coded pins (red for "open" and green for "closed") shows all the complaints received dating back to April, even before the law went into effect.

Unfortunately the Code Violations and Complaints Map does not currently show properties cited by the Amherst Police Department for noise or nuisance complaints, a glaring oversight.

Commissioner Morra did say he would be working with Police Chief Livingstone in the near future to make that valuable data available on the website.

Rental Permit Passes BIG Hurdle

Jonathan Tucker, Stephanie O'Keeffe, John Kennedy 

Amherst Select Board Chair Stephanie O'Keeffe deemed the draft document the Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods Working Group has been toiling over for a dozen public meetings, "Not absolutely perfect regulations, but pretty damn good!"

And with that, after a little clarification help from Phil Jackson who seconded the motion, the committee came to a lopsided 8-2 vote in favor (2 property managers voting no) of forwarding the draft document (part 4.a.1. was taken out today, so it no longer exempts owner-occupied rentals) to the Town Manager, who will craft it into a warrant article for Amherst Town Meeting. 

The Residential Rental Property Bylaw will require a rental permit that is exceedingly easy to get and conversely, very hard to lose.  

As a General Bylaw it will only require a majority vote at Town Meeting rather than the difficult to achieve two-thirds vote that all zoning articles require.

Because we are a "college town," Amherst has a far different housing market than national average:  out of 9,621 year round units 4,258 -- or 46% -- were owner occupied, and 5001 -- or 54% -- were rentals.   National average for owner occupied units is 67%.

Also synonymous with being a college town, college students comprise 59.4% of Amherst's population.  And while the vast majority of college students are industrious, hard working, solid citizens, a small percentage who live off-campus make life miserable for average working families and retired citizens. 

With a permit system in place Amherst will have a new weapon to control irresponsible slumlords.  Like the nuclear arms race of the 1950s and 60s, weaponry town officials hope never to use, but the threat will act as a defining deterrent to bad behavior.

Those Who Fail To Learn ...

 Ghosts of Christmas yet to come?

"Whereas:  There currently is a severe shortage of rental housing in the Town of Amherst, which shortage has been caused in part by the rapid increase in the population of the Town since 1970 resulting from its desirability as a place to live ...

Where have you heard that preamble before?  The controversial Town Meeting warrant article continues:

"This severe shortage of rental housing has led to a serious public emergency with respect to the rental housing available to a substantial number of citizens of the Town, which emergency is causing a serious threat to the public health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the Town."

Selected excerpts from Article #29, Rental Registration Bylaw coning up Monday night?  No.  Article #64, Rent Control Act.  Narrowly defeated by only five votes, 116 to 111.  Monday, May 16, 1983.

Yes, THIRTY YEARS AGO.

Today's landlords should consider themselves lucky that Article #29 is so light on the touch, simply ensuring that minimum common sense health and safety codes are routinely enforced for the good of tenants and the neighborhood.

The only landlords being "punished" are the ones who deserve it!

Of course should Article #29 fail tomorrow night -- and I'm confident it will not -- a fallback article comes up on Wednesday (Article #38), a similar version of Rental Registration Permit system with the main difference being owner occupied units -- whether the rental aspect is an "accessory use" or primary use --  will be exempt from the regulations.

Architects of that less restrictive article also plan to amend #29 with that wording.  

Because  most of the problems of rowdy student behavior emanate from (absentee) non owner occupied rentals, it is tempting to support #38 over the more restrictive #29.

Although the Safe & Health Working Group intended for the General Bylaw to cover all rentals, a serendipitous mistake between revisions does exclude room rentals for up to 6 tenants in owner occupied units. 

And those mom-and-pop landlords who are also town meeting members are now far more likely to support Article #29, the original bylaw created by the Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods Working Group, already approved by the Town Manager, and unanimously supported by the Select Board, Planning Board and Finance Committee.

Tune in Monday night as Amherst Town Meeting takes another bite at the 30-year-old apple.  This time the majority will get it right!

Back story told in emails

A Safer Healthier Amherst

Stephanie O'Keeffe, Select Board Chair and strong proponent  of Rental Permit Bylaw

While it was unseasonably hot outside the Amherst Regional Middle School, the auditorium where Amherst Town Meeting convenes was even hotter as the issue of the decade, perhaps a generation, Rental Registration Property Bylaw (permit system) came to a final head.

The vote was overwhelmingly in favor, sounding like a clear two thirds majority. So decisive in fact that no one thought to call for a Tally Vote, since the measure only required a simply majority. 

With unanimous support of the Planning Board, Finance Committee, Select Board and Town Manager and more than a majority of speakers who addressed the issue from the floor, the discussion carried on for just over two hours.  A motion to refer back to the Select Board made by Town Meeting member and landlord Richard Gold failed miserably.

Landlord, lawyer and town officials wait in front row for possible call to speak

Another motion offered by Coalition of Amherst Neighborhoods to exempt owner occupied units from the new regulation also failed by a tally vote of 116-74.

Speakers against the ordinance cited costs ($100/year), constitutional issues (unreasonable search by town inspectors), and suggested Amherst is already known state wide for being over regulated.

But common sense won the day, by a very wide margin.  Not something you see all that often on the floor of Amherst Town Meeting. 

Now of course, the lawsuits begin.

Round Two

Amherst Town Hall gets it right

Not since the 'Smoking Ban in Bars War' 15 years ago has the the little college town of Amherst seen such a successful implementation of a new ordinance.

The much needed Rental Permit Bylaw went into effect last year after health & safety problems within the lucrative industry spanning a generation (or two). 

Building Commissioner Rob Morra has issued a heads up email to all 1,353 property owners and managers and is even offering free informational sessions to make the process even easier.

Those who required a "parking plan" in year one will not need one upon renewal as long as the plan remains the same.

 Memo to all rental property owners

And best of all -- with the town getting more and more digitally savvy -- all the paperwork can done online. 

Amherst Building Commissioner Rob Morra (center) at Rental Bylaw Implementation Group 10/28/14

And Then There Were None

 

Pat Kamins landlord, Rob Morra (on right)  Building Commissioner

Amherst Building Commissioner Rob Morra reports the most recent Rental Permit Bylaw enforcement actions taken by his office to bring into the compliance the final dozen properties (out of 1,300) has been successful.

Only one remains -- 84 Grantwood Avenue -- and they have told him the "application is in the mail."

 A dozen years ago the Board of Health made an ill fated attempt to bring about Rental Registration but it was mostly ignored; and after the contentious "Smoking Ban in Bars War" from a few years earlier the Board seemed reticent to take on the enforcement challenge.  

Naysayers with a vested interest claimed the current implementation of the common sense bylaw, with its nominal $100 annual fee, would be a logistical nightmare and that the Zoning Board would be overwhelmed with hearings to approve the parking component of the program. 

But all of that sound and fury has apparently signified nothing.

100% compliance now sets the stage for rental occupancy peak season when students return next month.  So the next big test is yet to come.  

A Safer Place To Be

Gilreath Manor, Hobart Lane, Amherst

When the occupancy rate at Gilreath Manor went from zero to 100% last week, for the first time in perhaps a generation, the 14-unit apartment complex was completely up to code.  

Even the owners' expensive attorney admits to the Amherst Board of Health " ... the work was performed in the manner approved by the board and in a professional manner, leaving the units in a safer and better condition than before."

Amen.

Because on September 19th of last year, the main building pictured above could easily have become a death trap.  Too many occupants and not enough smoke detectors is bad enough, but throw in illegal basement bedrooms and a slow burning fuse to a potential powder keg has been ignited.

For a landlord in a college town like Amherst to lie to investigators and try to delay their inspections, and then try to place blame on tenants by pretending they did not know about extra roommates living in illegal basement bedrooms (when in fact they encouraged it) would be considered standard operating procedure for slumlords. 

But when it's a prominent second-generation family business empire and the individual at the helm is also the Amherst Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors President, let's just say the complicated case became a high profile affair.

And the Grandonicos lost.  No more flagrantly violating the (no more than) four unrelated housemates bylaw, having two bedrooms in the basements of Gilreath Manor (one per unit is now legal) or being less than attentive to safety codes with smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Thus sending a loud and clear message that the town is truly serious about cracking down on sub par rental housing -- no matter who the owners are.

The outcome of this particular case was a major reason the controversial "Rental Permit Bylaw" passed Town Meeting so overwhelmingly last May.

Although there was a brief dust up in late June when the Board of Health thought the Grandonicos were being disrespectful, which is of course not a good idea when you require an official variance.

But as you can see from the public documents back story, all's well that ends well.

The Prosecution Rests

 Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods meeting 3/19

At their lucky 13th and final meeting, the Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods Working Group voted 12-1-1 to specifically add "bad behavior" as a legitimate reason for enforcement action under the proposed bylaw, which in the most egregious of cases can result in the revoking of a rental permit.

Obnoxiously loud disruptive party houses that erode the quality of life in Amherst neighborhoods far and wide are the main reason the Safe & Healthy Neighborhood Working Group came into being.

Although vociferous neighbors are still concerned the new General Bylaw -- if endorsed by the Town Manager and then Town Meeting -- will not be ironclad enough to solve their problems with unruliness.

 

Assistant Town Manager David Ziomek Chaired SHNWG

The Select Board will decide, obviously yes, at their April 8 meeting whether to place the new General Bylaw on the warrant for the Spring Town Meeting, where it will require a simply majority vote.  Over the years Amherst has flirted with rent control and rental registration, neither of which proved effective.

Although this time around, the seriousness of purpose is almost palpable.

Maurianne Adams still has reservations

Forest For The Trees

 36-38 South East Street (Fort River School behind)

The Amherst Planning Board and Tree Warden Alan Snow will hold a joint "Scenic Roads" hearing tonight to decide the fate of four trees on South East Street, which is of course a "scenic road."

Click to enlarge/read

The owners of the rental property at 36-38 South East Street need to reconfigure their parking lot to keep within the Rental Permit Bylaw regulations and there's pretty much nowhere to go with the pavement other than that piece of paradise.

Three of the four trees are nothing to write home about, but one of them is healthy and scenic and therefor worth saving.

And the rule is if you can't save the tree worth saving then you will most likely have to pay the town a replacement cost of $90 per inch. Which adds up with mature trees. In this case 18 inches or $1,620.

Obviously the canopy and shade created by one mature 18" tree is probably greater than that provided by nine immature 2" trees (which the town will use to replace it).

Back in July, 2013 the Planning Board overruled the Tree Warden and voted to allow the owners of a house on the other end of South East Street,  #666,  to remove ten trees for a new driveway entrance.

But because Mr. Snow did not back down on the "replacement costs" totaling $6,000 the owners decided not to go the clear cut route and today the trees are still part of the scenic byway.

Pay Me Now Or ...

641 Main Street

Building Commissioner Rob Morra has entered a final phase for rolling in the Rental Registration and Permit Bylaw set to the tune, "No More Mr. Nice Guy."

The law was overwhelmingly passed by Amherst Town Meeting last year and went into effect January 1st.  It requires all rental properties to register with the town, pay $100 annual fee, and fill out a check list verifying adherence to basic health safety regulations.  

Out of 1300 rental properties in town that come under the ordinance only 32 have failed to comply.  As of May 30th the lower 13 properties on the list (below red line) have been issued $100 per day fines.  Yes, that's the total annual cost of compliance now paid PER DAY.

Already the town has received $1,500 in fines, and for those who refuse to pay the fines complaints will be filed in District Court at the end of this month.

The top 19 properties (above red line) will be issued $100/day fines starting this week as their deadline to comply was Friday the 13th.  Bad luck for them, good thing for the town.

 Click to enlarge/read

Party House Primer

Chief Livingstone

 
Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone paid a visit to the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday to educate them about "Nuisance House" enforcement -- an important component of Town Manager John Musante's Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods initiative.

First off the Chief dispelled the myth that police officers drive around in their patrol cars looking for parties.  "We need to have to have a complainant, a valid complainant to dispatch an officer to a disturbance".

Usually easy to find in the form of a neighbor losing the peaceful enjoyment of their home.

The Chief reports that APD responds to between 900 and 1,200 quality of life (noise/nuisance) complaints annually, with only a minority resulting in action by the responding officers, i.e. a $300 ticket or arrest for TBL violation (Town By Law).

But that percentage is going up:  In the most recent year about 20% of the overall responses resulted in tickets or arrests, whereas the previous year it was only 14%. 

A lot depends on "cooperation at the door".  Meaning when officers first arrive do the responsible tenants comply with requests to tone down the rowdy behavior.  If not, and other infractions besides noise -- underage drinking, large crowds, haphazard parking of cars, littering -- are disrupting the neighborhood, then "Nuisance House" tickets are issued,  or arrests made. 

The Zoning Board of Appeals is considering tying a Special Permit (to expand the rental capacity of a house, almost always made by an absentee landlord) to "conditions" that must be met in an ongoing way.

And becoming a "nuisance house" would violate a condition, and bring with it the loss of that Special Permit.

The house would then revert back to the original capacity of only 4 unrelated tenants, a major loss of rental revenue.

Amherst building commissioner Rob Morra recently won a major victory defending the town's no more than  4 unrelated tenants in a one family dwelling bylaw.  Prominent landlord Grandonico Properties, LLC packed students into rental property on Hobart Lane, including illegally converting substandard basements into bedrooms and then tried to blame it on the student occupants.

Simply fining the noisy party house participants has not solved the problem.  Chief Livingstone stated no landlord has been fined yet since it takes a third nuisance house ticket to trip that regulation, but he declared confidently "It's going to happen this Spring."

Currently two locations on Phillips Street have two nuisance house tickets each.

Phillips Street

A dozen years ago when Amherst led the charge on banning smoking in the workplace, including bars, fines alone (issued to the bar, not the patron) had minimal impact.  Only when faced with loss of their liquor license did barowners learn the value of compliance.

Revoke a Special Permit from a slumlord for too many noise violations, thereby instantly cutting their revenues in half, and that party house will quickly go quiet.  One way or the other ...

Targeting The BIG Ones

Townehouse Apartments East Quad 4:30 PM Saturday 10/30/16

Townehouse Apartments East Quad 4:00 PM 4/24/16

If the Campus & Community Coalition has anything to say about it l-a-r-g-e rowdy outdoor parties will go the way of the party houses that plagued our neighborhoods for too many years: silent.

Connie Kruger told fellow Select Board members at their last meeting because the town's Rental Permit Bylaw and a some zoning tweaks have dramatically reduced individual party houses the CCC will be focusing more on preventing the large day drinks that formerly seemed to occur only once a season but lately seem to occur any nice weekend in spring and fall.

 Hobart Lane 3:30 PM Saturday 4/30/16

 Townehouse west quad 4:45 PM 4/23/16

One of the weapons they have always had at their disposal but never used is the ability to fine not just the tenants responsible for hosting the large party but the owner of the property as well.

 Click to enlarge/read

Once landlord's start getting hit with $300 fines they may figure out a way of reining in their tenants -- even if it means eviction.