minutes-6-18-14

Oakwatch: The Oakland Code Enforcement Project Meeting Minutes June 18th, 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.

In Attendance: Geof Becker, Maria Bethel, Alicia Carberry, Kathy Boykowycz, Hanson Kappelman, Janice Lorenz, Rebekkah Ranallo, Blair Kossis, Tara Sherry-Torres, Cheryl Fu, Alex Coyne, Jim Peters, Bruce Kraus, Alicia Lakomski, Michael Medwed, Sophia Koss, Luke Rodgers, Ed Pace, Mark Oleniacz, Lawrence Robinson, Vasile Copetas, Mark Kramer, Chris Honeywill, Camille Burgess, John Wilds, Jeff Koch, Bob Kollar, Elan Sokol, Shannon Leshen, Brian Hill, John Tokarski, Maria Bethel, Lara Sullivan, Kannu Sahni, David Manthei, Ethel DeIuliis, Blithe Runsdorf, Rosalie Daniels, Mary Shea, Caroline Mitchell, Joan Dickerson, Wanda Wilson.

I. The Future of the Bureau of Building Inspection (BBI Chief Maura Kennedy): 1. The Bureau of Building Inspection has three branches: a) construction permitting, b) business licensing, and c) maintenance of existing buildings.

2. Over the course of several years, Chief Kennedy plans for all BBI processes to be easily accessible, transparent, and have predictable outcomes. BBI data is public. More easily-accessible data will provide a better sense of what is reported.

3. BBI is working closely with 311 through 311's revamp. A 311 submission is still the ideal way to make BBI aware of a violation.

4. Occupancy violations: Zoning Code sets the law on occupancy.

-Pittsburgh is home to 60,000 rental units.

-Currently there is no compulsion for an owner of a property to provide a physical address.

-Chief Kennedy is working with Mayor Peduto and City Council on proposing a rental registry as a way to accurately, quickly, and predictably find the owner of a property.

Philadelphia uses a similar system and has a 78% compliance rate. A registry will create a way for the majority to follow the rules, and a way to identify the outlying bad actors.

-Currently, when an owner is cited (served by certified mail) for an occupancy violation, they have 60 days to comply.

-Nodding to the difficulty of tracking owners, Chief Kennedy noted active work on getting access to tax records and meshing county databases with city databases.

-Aggressive and timely enforcement will be contingent upon BBI processes coming into the 21st century.

5. Solutions for getting stuck enforcing building code violations: In some cases, owners have been cited, brought to court, fined, gone through layers of public process, lost all appeals, and then filed bankrupcy.

In cases like these, the city would be the creditor, not BBI. Chief Kennedy will follow up on this with the Law Department to see about the city applying for conservatorship of the properties. These are still code violations relevant to BBI. 6. While BBI is committed to everyone in Pittsburgh, whether a well-organized group or single person, priority was asked for Oakland (third largest economic center in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) through Oakwatch.

7. The group re-asserted itself as an asset to BBI, one willing to do much groundwork and assist with cases.

II. Allegheny County Health Department Perspective on Occupancy Violations (Lawrence Robinson): -Lawrence began by saying he is most familiar with the occupancy violations of three-quarter houses.

Often, when a group of people decide to help each other toward sobriety by living together, they do not secure an occupancy permit beforehand.

-Distributing information to neighbors reporting the violation can be helpful.

-Geof Becker pointed out that Oakland’s occupancy violations are generally students of nearby universities. The growth of rental units in the area has been substantial and property owners have been cramming as many people as will fit in a place with disregard to the law.

-As Pittsburgh’s population continues to grow, and Oakland rental prices rise, over occupancy is spreading to other neighborhoods.

-The Health Department can cite on a violation of occupancy.

III. City Council Update (Council President Bruce Kraus): -Council President Kraus began by offering to give Chief Kennedy a walking tour of the Oakwatch Property Progress Report.

-Kraus’ office had a great first meeting with the new Director of Public Safety, Stephen Bucar.

-Kraus’ office worked with the new Chief Legal Officer of the Law Department, Lourdes Sanchez-Ridge, to add Social Host legislation as an amendment onto the Disruptive Properties Ordinance.

-Submitting it on Tuesday, June 24th-- will take three weeks to get approved, and should be an enforceable statute by September.

-Janice Lorenz asked if renters provide dates of birth for leases. Geof Becker and Kannu Sahni chimed in to say that prudent landlords would require a credit check.

-An initial draft of rental registry legislation is in the works. Council President Kraus suggested engaging the Realtors’ Association in a friendly way now. The city has been in litigation with the Association every one of his seven years on City Council.

-Council President Kraus: We all want the same thing. The team that Mayor Peduto has put in place is incredible. The key to this administration is communication and it’s happening.

Bear with us. Know that in everyone’s confirmation process, the term ‘customer service’ has come up.

This administration is big on customer service. It’s yours by right and we’re here to give it to you.

IV. Disruptive Property Statistics (Maria Bethel): Breakdown of submissions by Zone, then Oakland.

-Maria Bethel spoke first on the purpose of the Disruptive Properties Ordinance: to improve quality life in neighborhoods.

-The basis of the ordinance is that the city is required to notify the owner of the property when disruptive behavior occurs there.

-After three incidents, the property is declared disruptive and the money to have Public Safety visit the property is charged to the owner.

-Police have six months to enter a property under the ordinance due to the time it may take for an investigation.

-In Oakland, it is crucial to address the issue of the University of Pittsburgh Police and Zone 4 Police collaborating to submit properties to the ordinance.

-Properties flagged under the ordinance so far in 2014, by zone: Zone 1: 12 Zone 2: 15 Zone 3: 40 Zone 4: 12 Zone 5: 47 Zone 6: 33 Zone 4 properties flagged as disruptive in 2014: -4915 2nd Avenue -45 Bates -4115 Beeler -3374 Dawson -3325 Juliet -219 Joyce -6470 Monitor -307 N Craig -3707 Orpwood -5525 Pocusset -39 W Elizabeth -John Wilds expressed a willingness for Pitt’s Public Safety office to meet with the city’s Public Safety office.

-Maria Bethel noted that the wall between community and the police is starting to come down.

Some Police Commanders are hosting a ‘Commander on the Corner’ neighborhood walk wherein anyone is welcome.

-Blair Kossis asked if building code violations count toward a property being deemed disruptive.

Maria answered that BBI has its own process— that Disruptive Properties focuses primarily on Animal Control and Public Safety. The Nuisance Taskforce will recommend BBI to cite sometimes.

-The Law Department is working to add more charges to qualify as a flag under the ordinance.

-Maria noted that she finds property in a number of ways. Diligence is key, since the owners have the right to appeal.

-Maria noted that some landlords have begun to include the Disruptive Property Ordinance in leases as a preventative measure.

V. Oakland Property Progress Report (Supervisor Brian Hill): -3616 Parkview: Filed legal for the occupancy violation, waiting to be scheduled in Housing Court.

-343 Lawn: Filed legal for the occupancy violation, waiting to be scheduled in Housing Court.

-3374 Dawson: Waiting for ZBA hearing and decision before continuing legal process for the occupancy violation.

-3408 Parkview: Waiting for legal action.

-15 Oakland Square: Inspector McPherson has been in the property several times since receiving multiple complaints of stop-work order violations, and reports floor installation and stripping of the interior is the only work being done.

Residents in attendance noted that workers are still there regularly, begging the question: How long does it take to install a floor?

3101 Niagara: Filing bankruptcy, waiting to play out the timeline.

3421 Parkview: Re-cited, starting the legal process anew.

Public Safety's John Tokarski and Officer Shannon Leshen noted ways to proceed for mental health issues: getting the Health Department and RE:Solve involved.

3109 Forbes: Was before Judge Gallo on June 17th and given 30 more days to take care of the trees.

401 Atwood: Officer Leshen noted no citations or arrests at or near this property.

VI. University of Pittsburgh Police Update (Officer Steve Cetra): Arrests: -2 aggravated assault -2 burglary -1 disorderly conduct -5 drug-related -2 DUI -1 lurking/prowling -1 resisting arrest -1 terroristic threat -11 theft -7 warrant arrests Citations: -1 trespass -3 disorderly conduct -7 panhandler -1 public drunkenness -1 public urination

Officer Cetra visited the following addresses as a follow-up to loud parties: -3247 Juliet -3607, 3609, and 3409 Parkview -There has been a rash of bike thefts on campus.

-A neighbor let the Pitt Police know that Gus Miller’s is now selling pipes/ hookahs. Officer Cetra visited and spoke with the workers. They’re not doing anything illegal, but the Pitt Police will continue to monitor the situation.

VII. Zone 4 Police Update (Officer Shannon Leshen): Arrests: -10 drug related -6 DUI -4 moving violations -4 aggravated assault -4 prostitution -3 theft from business -1 theft from person -1 harrassment -1 hit and run -1 gun possession Citations: -1 public drunkenness -1 trespassing -1 underage drinking -1 obstructing roadways -1 public urination -David Manthei asked if bikes were required to be licensed. Officer Leshen answered no, that they are not motorized. For efforts of tracking, the Police work from serial numbers.

-Bike/pedestrian accidents are only reported if a medic is involved.

-Trends: bike thefts, burglaries on Chesterfield Street, Schenley Park car break-ins, Duquesne Light phone scams, traveler check fraud.

-Take care out there!

VIII. Department of Public Works Update (3rd Ward Supervisor Jeff Koch): -Jeff Koch reported that the number of tickets issued by the Parking Authority to cars in the way of the street sweeper have decreased each month since street sweeping started for the season.

-Ward Street was identified as a hot spot for tickets.

-The Parking Authority cannot ticket where signs are defaced or not posted.

-Everyone was urged to submit to 311 if a street-sweeping sign is missing or needs to be replaced.

-The city operates 8 or 9 street sweepers.

-Department of Public Works is responsible for patching potholes and overseeing the parks.

-David Manthei recognized Jeff Koch as being very helpful in alleviating issues on Joncaire Street.

IX. OPDC Updates (Alicia Carberry): -Save the dates for the Good Neighbor Campaign, set for Saturdays in August and September: August 16th, 23rd, 30th, and then September 6th and 13th. Routes will be divvied in advance, and we will be giving out lots of goodies in addition to Oakland information. Come out with us and welcome new neighbors to the community! Stay tuned for the University of Pittsburgh’s Block Party dates announcement. Contact Luke at kico@opdc.org or Alicia at acarberry@opdc.org for more information or to sign up.

-Major weeding and debris clean-up is scheduled for next week in St. James Pvt alley. Painting over the graffiti will happen in July, and then we will apply for a Love Your Block grant to resurface the walk and get lighting.

X. Community Notes: -Public Safety’s John Tokarski mentioned that every zone has a Public Safety Zone Council, open to the community, and that each Public Safety Zone Council is hosting a forum asking for input on hiring the new police chief. The forum will be held as a focused roundtable discussion on what kind of qualifications community members would like the new police chief to possess.

Zone 4’s Public Forum is at 6pm on Tuesday, July 22nd, at the Jewish Community Center (5738 Forbes Avenue) in Squirrel Hill. If unable to attend in person, input is welcomed online at the City of Pittsburgh’s Mindmixer website.

-Michael Medwed noted that no action has been taken on some of his 311 submissions for upholstered couches on porches.

-David Manthei brought to everyone’s attention a busted waterline on South Bouquet that called for a street re-surfacing. Now, the water from the storm sewer overwhelms the street. Lara Sullivan from Councilman Gilman’s office suggested contacting Council President Kraus’ office to coordinate Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority with Department of Public Works to take care of this.

Next meeting: July 16th’s meeting will be the Oakwatch Member Appreciation Luncheon. The University of Pittsburgh is graciously hosting us in the Cathedral Gallery on the 7th Floor of Alumni Hall at 4227 Fifth Avenue, from 12-2pm.

Come celebrate our collective accomplishments and see who receives the coveted Oakwatch Award!

RSVP required. Call or email Alicia at 412.621.7863 x21 or acarberry@opdc.org to RSVP. Meeting Adjournment.

Contact Oakwatch: oakwatch@opdc.org or 412.621.7863 x27.

Alicia Carberry, the coordinator for Oakwatch, can be reached at acarberry@opdc.org or 412.621.7863 x21.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop!