Building and Fire Board of Appeals Regular Called Meeting May 26, 2021 Building and Fire Board to be held May 26, 2021 at 1:30 PM with Social Distancing Modifications in a Regular Called Meeting Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (May 25 by noon). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the Building and Fire Board Meeting, residents must: •Call or email the board liaison at 512-550-5836 or at rick.arzola@austintexas.gov no later than noon, (the day before the meeting). The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to rick.arzola@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. •If this meeting is broadcast live, residents may watch the meeting here: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch- atxn-live Junta de Apelaciones de Edificios y Bomberos Reunión ordinaria 26 de Mayo de 2021 El edificio y la junta contra incendios se llevará a cabo el 26 de mayo de 2021 a la 1:30 p.m. con modificaciones de distanciamiento social en una reunión ordinaria. Se permitirán comentarios públicos por teléfono; no se permitirá ninguna entrada en persona. Todos los oradores deben registrarse con anticipación (25 de mayo al mediodía). Todos los comentarios públicos se producirán al comienzo de la reunión. Para hablar de forma remota en la reunión del edificio y la junta de bomberos, los residentes deben: • Llame o envíe un correo electrónico al enlace de la junta al 512-550-5836 o al rick.arzola@austintexas.gov a más tardar al mediodía (el día antes de la reunión). La información requerida es el nombre del orador, los números de artículo sobre los que desean hablar, si están a favor / en contra / …
City of Austin Office of the City Auditor Audit Report October 2020 Austin Code Department Repeat Offender Program Austin’s Repeat Offender Program, as currently administered, does not ensure renters are living in properties that meet minimum health and safety standards. The program, though well-intended, is not meeting this goal in part because rental property owners have not been regulated or incentivized to correct Code violations. Beyond that, the process used to identify properties for program registration is inefficient and does not always result in all eligible properties becoming part of the Repeat Offender Program when they should. Furthermore, large properties do not pay their proportionate share of the costs to administer the program, which may lead to small properties and the public paying a disproportionate share of the costs to manage the Repeat Offender Program. Ultimately, many of the challenges Austin faces in administering its Repeat Offender Program result from a competitive rental market with limited housing options. These pressures exacerbate the risk of housing displacement particularly for low-income and vulnerable populations that frequently live in repeat offender properties. Contents Objective and Background What We Found Recommendations and Management Response Scope and Methodology 2 4 11 15 Cover: Photo provided by Austin Code Department, October 2020. Objective Does the City’s Repeat Offender Program help ensure rental property owners are addressing health and safety concerns? Background Austin’s Repeat Offender Program, a rental registration program for properties with multiple code violations, aims to ensure Austin renters are living in properties that are healthy and safe. It was created in 2013, partially in response to structural failures that endangered public health and safety in multifamily residences. To ensure the City can take enforcement action against properties that do not maintain safe and healthy rental properties, it is essential to identify properties that have received violations that meet the criteria for program registration. If a person complains about conditions at a rental property, Austin Code investigates that complaint and if it is verified, the Department sends a Notice of Violation to the property owner. Generally, properties are required to register with the Repeat Offender Program when one of the following criteria is met during a 24-month period. X X XX Two or more separate notices of violation not corrected. Five or more separate notices of violation issued on separate days regardless of whether they were corrected. Two or more Municipal Court citations. To register …
Repeat Offender Program PRESENTED BY MATTHEW I NORIEGA May 2021 Overview Repeat Offender History • Ordinance Requirements Process Registration Requirements Signs Local contacts Periodic Inspections • • • • • • • Common Substandard Conditions & Disaster Situations Repeat Offender History 2013 2014 2015 ➢ June 6 Rental Registration Resolution 49 ➢ June 6 Repeat Offender Program Resolution 50 ➢ Sept. 26 2013 | 50 adopted ➢ Oct. 7 2013 | Repeat Offender Ordinance goes into effect ➢ 4 FTE approved by Council for Multi-Family Inspection Team ➢ FTE hired and trained ➢ ROP developed ➢ Jan. 2014 ROP Fully Implemented ➢ Nov. 2014 Amended by Council ➢ Remove habitability ➢ 12 to 24 months ➢ Added conditions ➢ Jan. 2015 Changes are implemented by Austin Code Ordinance Requirements All single-family and multi-family rental properties that have received numerous health and safety complaints within 24 consecutive months are required to register with the City of Austin Repeat Offender Program. Overview What types of conditions are considered a violation? Rental properties with multiple code violations are required to register with the repeat offender program. ROP Criteria A rental registration is required for multi-family and single-family rental properties (not occupied by the owner) if they have received the following within 24 consecutive months at the same property: or more separate notices of violation are issued for the same property within a consecutive 24-month period and the owner of the property fails to correct the violations within the time frame required by the code official. or more separate notices of violation issued on separate days for the same property within a 24 period regardless of whether the violation was corrected or not. or more citations are issued for the same property within a 24 consecutive months. Process • Code staff identifies and refers property to the ROP committee as a candidate for the Repeat Offender Program. • The ROP committee reviews the property and determines whether the property meets the ordinance requirements. • If eligible, the property is submitted to the Code Licensing and Registration Team. The property owner is required to register within 14 days or appeal to the Director of the Code Department. • Properties are automatically registered after 14 days • $330 application fee for each property • The public is notified of registered properties via online reporting tools and distribution methods such as: the Austin Code website, media, quarter …
Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals Board Meeting Approved Minutes The Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals met in a Regular Called Meeting on May 26, 2021 via Web Ex Video Conference Board Member, Arndt called the meeting to order at 1:53 p.m. Board Members in Attendance: Ashley Juraska, Tim Arndt, Marco Fiorilo, Ben Abzug, Bobby Johns and Ron Buys Board Members Not in Attendance: Alan Schumann, Pieter Sybesma and Aubrey Brasfield Staff in Attendance: Rick Arzola (DSD), Mitchell Tolbert (DSD), Eric Zimmerman(DSD), Tony Hernandez (DSD), Kelly Stilwell(DSD), Kurt Stogdill(AE), Patricia Chawla(AE), Michael Husted(AE), Matthew Noriega(ACD) and Justin Brummer(ACD) May 26, 2021 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from the May 6, 2021 Special Called meeting were approved as written. Board member Juraska made a motion to accept the minutes as written and board member Buys second the motion. Motion passed 6-0. 2. DISCUSSION AND ACTION -2021 International Energy Conservation Code- Austin Energy Manager of Green Building and Sustainability Kurt Stogdill gave a brief presentation on 2021 IECC Code Ordinance. In his presentation, Kurt highlighted and noted the significant changes in Residential. Insulation, increasing the R value from R38- to R49, Lighting changes in residential and multifamily homes and Mechanical Systems changes. He added that existing amendments would be retained but stringent with publish code, removed requirement for gas water heating in adjacent gas service and to add new code on timer language. There were option to paths of compliance, Performance and ERI paths and added additional efficiency option packages. In his Commercial changes, Kurt highlighted Building envelop, mechanical, lighting and power and water. Items that were dropped from the IECC, registered design professional on commissioning and water heater timers- added demand response as an alternative. Those that went to publish code, roofing, interlocks and commissioning. In their recommendation to keep, Encapsulation, ventilation filtration, window performance and demand response-to require open source demand response capabilities. After several discussions between AE, DSD and board members, board members elected to recommend the IECC to council but to include training and additional FTE’s for plan reviewers and inspections to implement the 2021 code. Board member Juraska made the motion and board member Fiorilo second the motion. Motion pass 6-0 4. DISCUSSION- Repeat Offender Program Austin Code Supervisor Matthew Noriega presented and gave an overview of Austin Code’s Repeat Offender Program (ROP). In that presentation, Supervisor Noriega highlighted the common violations, Unsafe …
