Corporation Counsel Walsh Drafts City Rental Occupancy Law

When Corporation Counsel Ron Walsh sent this to city council, only Aldermen Tobin and Michales were against it. Alderman Quail asked questions and then there were no other remarks from council. I asked Walsh to draft it. The landlord lawsuit happened the following week. By then it was too late to do anything.

I have letters from Knickerbocker, Land-use Attorneys, Jim Place, Chief Glover, and City Assessor David Briggs who were in full support of the square footage approach vs. the 3 unrelated.  On this advice I based my decision and recommendation to Ron to draft the letter.

Mayor Susan Feiszli, City of Cortland.

City Hall – Law Department

Ronald T. Walsh

Corporation Counsel

25 Court Street, Cortland, New York 13045

Website: www.cortland.org

Phone: 607-753-0872

Email: lawdept@cortland.org

Fax: 607-753-0385

To: Mayor Feiszli, Members of the Common Council

From: Ron Walsh, Corporation Counsel

Date: 6/11/2010

Re: City Rental Occupancy Law

I have been asked to draft an amendment to the City of Cortland Zoning Code that would legalize occupancy levels of rental housing units at the number of occupants registered under the rental permit program as of August 1, 2010. In other words, if a landlord admits in his/her permit application to having four unrelated tenants in a single dwelling unit, the use would be deemed to be in compliance.

The proposed language for the amendment is as follows:

ANY RESIDENTIAL RENTAL UNIT DULY REGISTERED PURSUANT TO THE CITY OF CORTLAND’S RENTAL HOUSING PERMIT LAW ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 1, 2010, THE OCCUPANCY OF WHICH EXCEEDS THE LEVEL ORDINARILY PERMITTED UNDER SECTION 300-2 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF CORTLAND SHALL BE DEEMED TO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE ZONING LAW OF THE CITY OF CORTLAND AS A NON-CONFORMING USE EXISTING PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF SECTION 300-2 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF CORTLAND

This approach would accomplish a number of objectives –

1. It would likely forestall time-consuming and costly litigation. As you are aware, the City is facing at least one law suit in connection with the definition of family and our residential occupancy regulations. I have been told that we can expect a challenge to our rental permit law also. A conversation with Steven Lagrue, the attorney for several of the more militant landlords, leads me to believe that these law suits would go away if the city adopts this measure.

2. It would provide Dave Briggs, the City Assessor with an accurate indication of the income potential of various properties, which in turn will allow him to appropriately adjust the tax assessment of these properties. There would also be a disincentive for landlords to over-report occupancy levels, because the more occupants they report, the higher their property tax assessment would be.

3. It would secure buy-in from the landlord group to cooperate with the rental permit program, and it would result in hard and fast numbers of occupants of housing units.

4. With hard and fast occupancy levels established for all rental units as of August 1, 2010, the City will be in a much stronger position to prosecute future illegal expansions of occupancy. This would potentially stem the expansion of rental housing into single-family, owner occupied neighborhoods.

This amendment is constructed such that a landlord would not be in a position to claim in the future, that at their housing unit was grandfathered for occupancy of more than 3 unrelated people. The level of occupancy would be fixed at the number registered under the rental permit program as of August 1, 2010..

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me.