minutes-2-19-14

Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting Minutes from February 19th, 2014

Mission: Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project seeks to improve the quality of life for residents, employees and visitors by enforcing codes on negligent property owners, housing violations, parking violations, disruptive behavior, excessive noise and underage drinking in the Oakland neighborhood.

I.

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In attendance: Guy Johnson, Steve Cetra, John Wilds, Sarah Kerrigan, Anthony Tripp, Kannu Sahni, Michael Medwed, Giovanna Palmieri, Mary Ballerini, Carla Spinelli, Brian Hill, Rebekkah Ranallo, Tara Sherry-Torres, Wanda Wilson, Liz Gray, Megan Fabbri, Phil Garrow, Millie Sass, Joan Dickerson, Camille Burgess, Laufton Longo, Lara Sullivan, Hilary Scherer, Maria Bethel, Nathan Hart, David Manthei, Alicia Carberry, Blair Kossis, Geof Becker, Hanson Kappelman.

305 Coltart: Disruptive party incident and police follow-up.

University of Pittsburgh Police Officer Steve Cetra visited the residence in the daytime and talked to the four female Carlow students residing. The women agreed the party got out of hand.

University of Pittsburgh Assistant Vice Chancellor of Community Relations John Wilds asked if Carlow was made aware of the incident. Officer Cetra affirmed that he told them.

Bureau of Building Inspection representative Brian Hill questioned the legality of making citations.

Possibilities brought up: underage drinking, open container, fire hazards, noise.

Nathan Hart mentioned strong anecdotal evidence would support citations, and that residents charging entry at the door of parties would be affected by citations as they cut into profit margins.

Oakland Planning and Development’s Blair Kossis asked Officer Cetra if the Pitt Police are able to make citations. Cetra said yes. Mr. Kossis asked if the citations are able to be forwarded to Zone 4.

They are.

City of Pittsburgh's Maria Bethel also proposed closing gaps by using the Nuisance Property Ordinance. The City of Pittsburgh's new administration is currently working on doing this. Maria Bethel will check to see that everyone is being trained on these Ordinances.

Geof Becker proposed aggressive patience to the community forum and asked if results could be expected in 60 days.

"Has the software to hold tenants to both the Social Host Ordinance and Nuisance Property Ordinance been purchased/ installed?" Brian Hill asked. 60 days might not be enough time to expect all this to be implemented.

Maria Bethel noted that in the meantime, police can make notes on arrests and citations and at the next Responsible Hospitality Initiative meeting, enforcement can be brought up.

Geof Becker asked the Mayor's Office Representative Laufton Longo for an update on the aforementioned at the next Oakwatch meeting.

Mr. Longo expressed involvement already and said he would be happy to give an update at the next meeting.

Neither Zone 4 nor staff from Councilman Kraus’ office had representation at the meeting to address pressing concerns about enforcement of the Social Host Ordinance. Consensus agreed to revisit this issue at the next meeting.

II.

Mayor’s Office Update: (Laufton Longo) Mr. Longo informed the group that Oakcliffe is getting stronger fencing along Lawn Street.

West Oakland is to be the focus of more active parking enforcement. He encouraged everyone to continue submitting pothole woes to 311.

Geof Becker noted looking forward to more temperate weather easing parking enforcement. Mr. Longo agreed and told everyone that if a car is snowed over, parking agents are not allowed to clear snow to see the permit, but residents can still submit suspected permit-less and abandoned cars to 311. He shared his email for anyone with future concerns: Laufton.longo@pittsburghpa.gov Camille Burgess asked Mr. Longo who is responsible for debris the day after trash collection.

It is the owners’ responsibility, even if the debris travelled from another yard.

Mr. Becker asked when empty garbage cans are to be removed from the curb. Brian Hill responded there is none.

Oakland Planning and Development’s Blair Kossis suggested using Keep It Clean Oakland’s courtmandated volunteers for help in cleaning remaining trash.

Josh Litvik oversees KICO and can be reached at (412) 621-7863 x24 or kico@opdc.org

III.

Oakland Property Progress Report: (Brian Hill) Brian Hill reported that the owner of the house that exploded on Dawson Street has applied for a dumpster permit and has the debris almost cleaned up. BBI has still not been able to contact 53 Lawn Street’s owner and suggested the property as a candidate for the Land Bank once the bill passes. As far as the improvement work at 253 North Dithridge goes, BBI is not happy with the work done and will re-cite. 3101 Niagara will also be re-cited and taken back to court. 3421 Parkview Avenue’s case is still in the appeals process. Briefs have been submitted.

IV.

University of Pittsburgh Police: (Officer Guy Johnson/ Officer Steve Cetra) Oakland crime update / Incident breakdown, Q&A. Statistics for January: -10 disorderly conduct violations. 2 of these were physical arrests and 8 were citations.

7 of the 10 the violators were Pitt students.

-12 drug violations. 7 of these were physical arrests and 5 were citations. 5 of the violators were Pitt students.

-2 D.U.I.’s resulted in 2 physical arrests.

-5 public drunkenness violations all were citations, 2 of the violators were Pitt students.

-20 underage drinking violations resulted in 20 citations. 19 of these were Pitt students.

Geof Becker: Following up on conversations at the Responsible Hospitality Initiative (RHI) meetings, do we have information on how many students went before the Judicial Board?

Kannu Sahni: We are not yet sure if we can share that information because of legal reasons.

Wanda Wilson: Years ago at OCC meetings, Pitt used to share these Judicial Board reports. What, specifically, has changed?

John Wilds: All citations given by our officers go before the Judicial Board, so when you hear the report from Officer Cetra, you can assume all those same citations and arrests are also forwarded to the Judicial Board.

Wanda Wilson: Are Zone 4 citations communicated with the Judicial Board?

John Wilds: I do not think Zone 4 Officers testify before the panel.

Geof Becker: Are there set punishments?

John Wilds: Yes, depending on the infraction. Community service, temporary suspension, and expulsion are all possible consequences.

Geof Becker: Would it be possible to have a report without names delivered?

Nathan Hart: Transparency is important to community members, for the sake of knowing the consequences are more than just a slap on the wrist and for building trust between the residents and the institution.

Rebekkah Ranallo: Do Pitt Police communicate with Zone 4? Specifically, if the Coltart case was Pitt students, and Zone 4 did make citations, would Pitt find out?

University of Pittsburgh Police Officer Guy Johnson: We do receive reports from Zone 4, yes.

Tara Sherry-Torres: If they self-identify as students.

Rebekkah Ranallo: It would be interesting to see data on Zone 4 vis-à-vis Judicial Board outcomes.

John Wilds: Zone 4 isn’t interested in small citations; they are interested in hard crimes.

Wanda Wilson: We would still be interested in the Judicial Board reports in order to see this.

Kannu Sahni: This would be part of the Responsible Housing Initiative process—the sharing of information.

Geof Becker: Yes, but it is taking a while. Can we set a date by which to receive the information?

This information would help to alleviate the suspicion that the University of Pittsburgh is whitewashing statistics to protect its students. Sharing the information would be mutually symbiotic.

John Wilds: Statistics can be used in a lot of ways and we have to be careful.

Maria Bethel: Discussion will be continued with RHI so we can address repeat offenders with property owners in a targeted response.

Geof Becker: We will expect progress on these statistics.

V.

Zone 4 Police: (Officer Leshen) Oakland crime update / Incident breakdown, Q&A. Expect two months' worth of reports at the next meeting since Zone 4 was not able to represent at this meeting.

VI.

New business: Geof Becker to Brian Hill: Oakcliffe residents have come up with a list of properties to investigate/ cite as far as over-occupancy goes.

Millie Sass: We have even gone as far to interview students to see how many are living in certain places.

Geof Becker: We will continue to get our ducks in a row.

Joan Dickerson: Should a 311 report be filed for each address?

Brian Hill said yes, and that BBI Inspectors would then attempt to resolve the issue in 3 weeks' time.

Ms. Sass: We checked the database on these, and most are only approved as single-unit apartments.

Brian Hill: The database is not up to date, though, so that is not fullproof evidence.

Liz Gray: I personally pulled permits for suspected over-occupancy properties on Ophelia and

Niagara Streets, and Joe Hammer Square. I have found "Continued use of existing unit as:" What does this mean, and has the Polk Directory been issued since 1948?

Brian Hill: 1952 was the last issuance.

Ms. Gray: When did the area change from R4 to R1A? If the area is zoned R1 (single-family houses), and in 2002 they were turned into 3-family units, would there have had to be a hearing to make that change?

Brian Hill: That is hard to say. Pat Ford threw a lot of files away during his short BBI tenure.

Laufton Longo interjected to note that BBI was recently appointed a director, and that BBI processes will soon improve.

Ms. Dickerson: As far as documentation of over-occupancy goes, what is good evidence?

Brian Hill: Hard copies of leases. You can send property owners request letters to obtain them.

Maria Bethel: Craig's List ads can be useful also.

Ms. Sass: What about parking permits issued to a single address?

Brian Hill: There is little to no crossover there.

Geof Becker to Laufton Longo: We need this to be a priority for the new administration.

Mr. Longo: Absolutely.

Ms. Dickerson: For a house to qualify as two units, must the units be separated?

Brian Hill: Yes, but that does depend on what year the permit was issued.

More modern ones require a firewall to separate units.

Liz Gray: If no occupancy permit is on record, does that mean a property is only approved for a single family?

Nathan Hart: Anything without a permit should revert to a single-family home.

Brian Hill: That is not always the case. The state allows Act 34 to certify a building for anything. The burden of proof is upon the owner.

Maria Bethel: Zoning governs what is permitted in the area as far as occupancy goes.

Nathan Hart: The county and city do not match up with zoning, though.

Geof Becker: In working to enforce over-occupancy, we need to keep in mind why.

Too many people put a lot of pressure on a neighborhood.

Brian Hill: 311 is an important tool to record where there is a need for help with enforcing overoccupancy.

Laufton Longo: Soon, there will be an Open Data law passed and enacted. Records will be much more available.

Geof Becker: In the past, 311 reports were made available to our group.

Mr. Longo: Those, too, will be made accessible and searchable soon.

VII.

Citizen Observer Patrol: (Alicia Carberry) St. Patrick’s Day patrols are scheduled for March 14th and 15th from 11PM-1AM. If you would like to help with these, please get in touch: acarberry@opdc.org or (412) 621-7863 x21

VIII.

Next meeting: 12PM on March 19th, 2014 at UPMC’s Scaife Hall, Room 1105 BC. Enter at 3550 Terrace Street (across from the Petersen Events Center) and take the elevators to the 11th floor.

IX.

Meeting Adjournment.

Contact Oakwatch: oakwatch@opdc.org 412.621.7863 ext. 27. Thanks for keeping us in the loop!