CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte’s City Council is looking for better ways to hold the owners of run-down motels and apartments accountable. Officials with Charlotte’s Housing and Neighborhood Services appeared before a committee Monday afternoon.
The meeting came about a month after the city ordered the closure of the Lamplighter Inn in northwest Charlotte. Back in November, residents told Queen City News that conditions were deplorable.
Housing problems like this are why council members want to take another look at how city staff enforce building codes.
“Would you let your momma stay there? Would you let your child stay there? That would be the minimum standard code for me, can’t put that through legal language, but that is the thought process I would like for us to consider,” said at-large Councilmember LaWana Mayfield.
During Monday’s meeting, the Housing, Safety, and Community Committee heard from Housing and Neighborhood Services Director Rebecca Hefner. Hefner’s team laid out what powers they have to maintain adequate housing conditions in the Queen City. They include warnings, fines, required repairs, or even demolition. City employees acknowledged it can be difficult to force a landlord to comply.
“We can’t always hold an owner or a particular actor in this situation accountable, but we do have a lot of tools available to us in the code,” said Hefner.
Hefner told committee members they could start ordering more repairs or demolitions carried out by city crews, with a lean placed on the property to cover the cost. Those actions would require full city council approval.
Other ideas included one proposed by Councilmember Tiawana Brown. She pushed for more meetings where residents are invited to participate in discussions, “Those are the people that we’re fighting for that we want to be able to live and have stable housing.”
In the coming weeks, city officials plan to present case studies on the Lamplighter Inn as well as Tanglewood Apartments, another complex that had to evict residents. The hope is the studies will provide more insight on how to better enforce housing standards.
