Charlotte Holding Additional Meetings this Week on Housing Code Changes

Posted on July 9, 2019

The City of Charlotte is hosting a second pair of community meetings this week to discuss proposed changes to its Minimum Housing Code, which are scheduled to be considered by a City Council committee on July 17th.

REBIC and other industry groups have expressed concern that the proposed changes Ordinance could negatively impact housing affordability by raising the cost of property management and code compliance for landlords.

A full list of the proposed changes is available here, along with the presentation made last month to City Council’s Neighborhood Development Committee. They include:

  • Requiring roof drains, gutters and downspouts be maintained in good repair and free from obstructions and designed to discharge rainwater away from
    the structure.
  • Requiring any existing air conditioning systems to be ‘in good working condition.’
  • Requiring that cabinet doors and drawers be ‘operating as intended and have functional hardware.’
  • Requiring that exhaust ducts for clothes dryers be equipped with a back-draft
    damper.
  • New fines of $500 per day for failure to correct any dangerous violations within 48 hours.
  • Enhanced penalties for Environmental Court convictions that include probation or up to 30 days in jail.

REBIC and the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association were successful in getting last week’s committee vote on the proposal deferred until Wednesday, July 17th, citing our concerns with the ambiguity and increased cost of many of the provisions, and the potential impact on the City’s dwindling supply of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing. We will be meeting with City staff this week to discuss our concerns in more detail.

All interested landlords and property owners are strongly encouraged to review the proposed ordinance changes and attend one of the two community meetings scheduled for this week. 

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