§ 19-225. Purpose.

(a)

The purpose of this article is to protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the people of the city in occupied dwellings by recognizing that the offering for rental of dwelling units is a business, classifying and regulating such rentals as a rental housing business, and further including, as beneficial purposes:

(1)

To protect the character and stability of residential areas;

(2)

To correct and prevent housing conditions that adversely affect or are likely to adversely affect the life, safety, general welfare and health, including the physical, mental and social well-being of persons occupying dwellings;

(3)

To enforce minimum standards for heating and sanitary equipment necessary for health and safety;

(4)

To enforce minimum standards for light and ventilation necessary for health and safety;

(5)

To prevent the overcrowding of dwellings by enforcing minimum space standards per occupant for each dwelling unit;

(6)

To enforce minimum standards for the maintenance of existing residential buildings, and to thus prevent slums and blight;

(7)

To preserve the value of land and buildings throughout the city;

(8)

To protect the public from increased criminal activity that tends to occur in residential areas that are unstable due to dwellings that are blighted or are substandard.

(b)

It is not the intention of the unified government to intrude upon contractual relationships between tenant and landlord. The unified government does not intend to intervene as an advocate of either party, to act as an arbiter, or to be receptive to complaints from tenant or landlord that are not specifically and clearly relevant to the provisions of this article. In the absence of such relevancy with regard to rental disputes, it is intended that the contracting parties exercise such legal sanctions as are available to them without the intervention of the unified government.

(c)

The public officer shall adopt policies for the use and prioritization of scarce public resources. The policies shall be based upon the following factors and any other factors deemed by the public officer to promote the efficient enforcement of this article:

(1)

Geographic distribution and concentration of rental dwellings;

(2)

Rental dwellings with delinquent property taxes;

(3)

Property identified by the inspections department as having an excessive number of housing code violations or a history of noncompliance or slow compliance with housing inspection orders;

(4)

Rental dwellings for which no license has been applied;

(5)

Rental dwellings with an excessive number of police calls for drug offenses, prostitution, crimes of force, violence, or disorderly conduct;

(6)

Sale of the equitable interest in a rental dwelling property;

(7)

Complaints received regarding the rental dwelling.

(Code 1988, § 19-491; Ord. No. 66057, § I, 10-19-1995; Ord. No. O-40-16 , § 1, 6-30-2016)