Fayetteville City Council
Work Session
September 8, 2009

Report: Angie Hedgepeth
Governmental Affairs Consultant FRAR/HBAR

Present: Full Council, Councilman Crisp was available by phone

What Happened: The following items where on the work session agenda.

• An update was provided on the draft Sustainability Plan for the City of Fayetteville. The following information is from the Councils’ action memo.

Background – In the 2009-2010 Strategic Plan, City Council identified recycling for multi-family and commercial, air quality and green city policy development as priorities for management agenda. These items are all related to our sustainability. In February 2009, the president announced stimulus funding for cities by formula grant. The grant funding allowed the city to hire an energy consultant firm to assist in the development of a sustainability and energy conservation plan. In June, the City hired Green Works Partners to develop a comprehensive sustainability plan and assist in the submittal of a detailed list of projects to the Department of Energy for the ARRA grant funding. DOE has received our grant application and it is being reviewed. The project list will be submitted by early November per application requirements.

The plan will now be reviewed by stake holders and several public informational meetings will take place before the Council will be asked for final approval. The Council agreed unanimously to move the plan forward for public input. The following information comes from the master plan (planning section) as it relates to both industries.

Green Buildings – Current efforts – Draft Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) offers sustainable development practices incentives in Mixed Residential 5 (MR-5) and Downtown (DT) districts; projects providing required number of sustainable features are eligible for a density bonus of up to 20 percent beyond the maximum allowable gross residential density and increases in the maximum allowable height up to two stories beyond the maximum allowable height in the base zoning district; 12 eligible features range from renewable energy to LEED Silver certification to community gardens.

Expand the availability of incentives in the UDO for the incorporation of sustainability features to additional appropriate districts such as Office & Institutional, Community Commercial and Mixed Use.

Land Use & Open Space – All new development is required to include 500 square feet of open space per residential unit.

In the UDO:
a. Incorporate smart growth and school centered community principals
b. Prioritize urban infill, transit oriented and walkable development
c. Incorporate the planning and development of park and ride facilities to support existing and future transit
d. Incorporate the planning and development of “complete street” that accommodate all forms of transit along appropriate corridors
e. Incorporate pedestrian-oriented sidewalks design standards, such as the separation of sidewalks and traffic lanes
f. Encourage the protection of the city’s historic resources, including both buildings and neighborhoods
g. Incorporate low impact development standards
h. Incorporate strategies to minimize surface parking lots.

*Utilize the Sustainable Sandhills Suitability maps to evaluate rezoning requests.
Create an inventory of all brownfield properties in the city and establish goals, priorities and procedures for their abatement and reuse.

• The Council also heard from Dough Hewitt (Assistant City Manager) regarding the proposed Residential Rental Property Program. In a staff memo, the purpose of the program is 1.) Identification of rental properties throughout the community, 2.) Inspections to ensure minimum housing standards, for all residential rental properties and or 3.) A program to target such properties with repeated violations of city codes.
Doug said he will be working closely with property managers for public input to help develop the ordinance. Out of 3 different models the staff had researched, the Council approved the following 2 proposals.

1. Rental Registration – Designed to identify all rental properties throughout the city. Enables staff and the public to see where rentals are located and provides avenues for quick distribution of information to owners. Could also be designed to require that all absentee landlords provide a “local” agent to address livability or use issues. All residential property owners are required to register residential rental property annually.
• Identify which properties are rental
• Provide quick contact to owners/agents on a variety of issues
• Facilitates rental inspections, PROP, or other programs
• Staff involvement limited to ensuring all properties are registered
• There are existing models in North Carolina
• Provides demographic data that could also be useful for land use and other planning purposes
• Costs could be covered by a modest fee
The challenges would be
• Enforcement i.e. identification of rental properties
• City wide application to good and bad residential rental property owners
• Development of a robust computer application to manage process
• Could be perceived as a tax

2. Probationary Rental Occupancy Permit – Designed to address residential rental properties that repeatedly break city codes. If designed similar to Raleigh’s model, it would allow the City to prevent property owners from renting problem properties if the owners continue to rent to problem tenants. Only residential property owners who have rental units that repeatedly violate city codes would be included.
• Targets only problem rental properties-not City wide.
• Can be a standalone program. Or could also be combined with Rental Inspection/Registrations.
• Staff involvement limited to selected properties.
• Maybe able to use our Environmental Court as a clearinghouse for such properties
• There is an existing model in North Carolina
The challenge would be
• Developing reasonable criteria for what triggers entry into program – if using Raleigh, our program would be quite large
• Increased legal action required for some properties, as this is a targeted program

What’s Next: City Council Meeting Monday, September 14th