HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.B. Rental Housing Licensing Staffing and Costs 3.b~
CITY OF SHAKOPEE
Memorandum
CASE NO.: NA
TO: Mark McNeill, City Administrator
Dan Hughes, Chief of Police
Jim Grampre, Building Official
FROM: Michael Leek, Community Development Director
SUBJECT: Discussion of Rental Housing Licensing Staffing and Costs
WORKSHOP DATE: February 11, 2008
INTRODUCTION:
The number of rental housing units in the City has increased, as have calls for service (especially
calls to the police). These increases suggest the need to consider implementation of a licensing
program. At the same time, it appears that a growing number of cities have adopted rental housing
licensing programs, and that the City can benefit from the lessons learned by the cities that have
implemented such programs. For that reason, Council is asked to discuss and provide direction on a
proposal to establish a rental housing licensing program in the City of Shakopee.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Shakopee has about 1,298 units of "general occupancy rental" housing. (Source:
"Rental Market Analysis and Demands for Scott County Minnesota," 1999; City of Shakopee Draft
2030 Comprehensive Plan, Housing Chapter). In addition to these, especially under current housing
market conditions, there are single-family and townhouse dwelling units that have been converted
to rental use. Recently, planning staff reviewed a couple of townhouse projects that were intended
to be "ownership' projects, and found that a number of townhouses were not owner occupied. In
the case of one of the projects a total of about 28 townhouse units were not owner occupied. Based
on calls for service, the Police Department has learned that the same phenomenon is occurring in
other townhouse projects/neighborhoods within the City. Thus, the actual total number of
residential units being rented in the City is likely significantly higher. Nonetheless, for the purposes
of this early discussion, this memo will make use of the 1,298 number identified above.
Elements of the Proposed Licensing Program:
The draft proposal has two basic elements; 1) the initial licensing and annual renewal of rental
dwelling, and 2) enforcement related to failure to comply with the licensing ordinance or rental unit
license itself. The draft proposal assumes that each residential unit offered for rent would be
licensed, as opposed to buildings containing multiple unites. For that reason, it putting together the
following estimate of staff time, it was assumed that each residential unit would be inspected on an
annual basis.
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Estimate of Staff Time Commitment:
For purposes of this initial discussion, and because the City does not have any experience with
enforcement at this time, I have not attempted to estimate the time that would be required for the
enforcement component of the proposed licensing program. However, for discussion purposes I
have looked at the staff commitment for the annual licensing activities. It appears that the main
activities would be as follows;
o Intake of applications for initial licenses and annual renewals;
o On-site inspection of rental residential units by staff from the police department, a building
inspector, and the fire inspector;
o Issuance of the initial license or annual renewal.
Intake and issuance would be handled by clerical support staff. For purposes of estimating possible
stafftime commitments, it was assumed that there are about 1,298 units to be licensed; that intake
and issuance would take on average one hour per unit; and that site inspections would take on
average twenty minutes per staff person inspecting the unit. Based on those assumptions, the
annual inspection process could take 2,596 person/hours or about the equivalent of about 1.25
FTEs. The actual cost of this staff time would depend on the respective hourly rates for the
positions involved in the program.
ACTION REQUESTED:
Provide direction to City staff regarding whether to proceed with further development of the
proposal for a rental licensing program; whether the program should follow the approach presented
to the Council in draft form or should be modified; and direction regarding funding for staff
resources needed for such a program.
v
R. Michael Leek
Community Development Director
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