OneMECK Position Paper – Charlotte Needs Stronger Housing Code Enforcement

 Distributed to City Council and Media on 12/5/2024

Summary – the Moral Imperative

OneMECK and ActionNC, two long-standing advocacy teams in Charlotte, ask that the City implement stronger housing code enforcement to help families living in deteriorated housing.  Too many families live in rental units with serious code violations affecting both their quality of life as well as their health. Complaints can give rise to landlord retaliation and potential displacement.  In some instances, owners allow buildings to deteriorate but continue to collect rent, then a new owner comes in and displaces all residents. 

Background

An analysis of housing code violations that were opened within the last 2 years shows that, as of 11/18/2024, there were 916 open housing code violation inspection reports:

  • 360 of these violations have remained open for more than 6 months. Owners are not being sufficiently responsive and residents are being forced to live in deteriorating dwellings.
  • Each housing code violation is associated with a parcel of land, and 12 parcels have 11 or more open housing code violation reports. Buildings that have multiple violations are often deteriorated, with residents living in substandard conditions and owners abusing the system.

Charlotte should adopt a strong housing code enforcement policy to empower the Code Enforcement Division to step in when landlords fail to obey city repair orders.  The lack of enforcement at Lamplighter Inn, Tanglewood, Lake Arbor, and other residences has left many families living in unsafe and unhealthy conditions for years, with residents ultimately displaced.  This could have been prevented.  The housing code ALREADY allows the city to enforce its repair orders with two stronger remedies that are not being utilized.

The code authorizes the city council to direct the city attorney to sue the owner for an injunction to compel the landlord to make urgent repairs. 

  • Code inspectors often give owners 48-hour deadlines to repair imminently dangerous conditions such as inoperable heat in the winter, inoperable toilets or bathing facilities, and dangerous wiring.
  • If landlords fail to obey such orders, the staff should then ask the city council to direct the city attorney to seek immediate injunctive relief to compel the owner to remedy the problem.

The code also authorizes the city council to use its in rem repair remedy to accomplish other important repairs that may not be imminently dangerous, such as roof leaks or plumbing leaks that may cause toxic mold and structural damage, inoperable locks, holes in flooring and walls, broken windows, and other serious code violations:

  • City council should require the staff to report cases where final repair orders have gone more than 30 days past the date when repairs were required to be finished.
  • The council should select appropriate cases for adoption of an ordinance directing the chief code officer to seek bids from construction contractors to repair the violations. This work can be done without displacing the tenants, for example, through temporary relocation when extensive work is required
  • Once the work is completed, the city can present the bill to the owner for payment.
  • If the owner fails to pay, the city can place a lien on the property to enforce collection, and ultimately take possession through foreclosure if the owner fails to reimburse. Once the city has title to the property it can sell it to a responsible housing provider who can maintain it as part of the community’s affordable housing inventory.

Call To Action

We implore City Council to take action to help families living in deteriorated housing.  As a first step, City Council should direct the Code Enforcement Division to develop a strong enforcement policy as outlined above and identify funding and resources needed to put this policy into effect.

 

 

 

OneMECK Supports “A Home For All” – addressing homelessness in our community

To Mayor Lyles and Charlotte City Council Members:

I am writing on behalf of OneMECK (an affordable housing advocacy team*) in support of A Home For All, a critical community-wide initiative.  At the April 22 City Council meeting, A Home For All presented a list of substantial funding needs to continue progress toward alleviating the burden of homelessness in our City.  While there are questions to be addressed, it is imperative that funding for this initiative be incorporated into the 2025 budget.

A Home For All is the implementation phase of an effort started years ago to address homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. With the involvement of over 250 organizations and stakeholders, including city leaders, the initiative has been carefully planned to leverage the strengths of public and private sectors in pursuit of effective solutions.  Led by United Way, these organizations collaborated to develop a high-impact funding request for the next fiscal year.

The problems we need to address are substantial. Over 3,000 individuals in the Charlotte region currently find themselves without a home and our community requires an additional 45,000 housing units to accommodate those earning 30% or less of the area median income. These statistics demonstrate the urgent need for action.

The level of community involvement in the recently passed “re-criminalization” ordinance changes shows that there is a strong interest in addressing homelessness.  OneMECK believes that the criminal penalties will be ineffective without addressing the underlying problems of the homeless, and that real progress will require a greater commitment.  Funding A Home For All is a chance to have a significant impact.

We urge City Council to offer strong support for A Home For All, and to approve full funding in the coming year. Mike O’Sullivan, Chair, OneMECK Affordable Housing Committee

OneMECK Supports the adoption of the Unified Development Ordinance

To Mayor Lyles and City Council Members:

On August 22, 2022 City Council is scheduled to vote on adoption of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).  The UDO is the product of years of work by City Council supported by planning staff. We urge current City Council members to complete the work on the UDO and vote for adoption.  The new UDO, combined with policies under development by the Neighborhood Equity and Stabilization Commission and Charlotte Equitable Development Commission will guide our community toward forward thinking, equitable development for current and future generations.

The current zoning laws are comprised of multiple ordinances dating back many years. While adjustments and additional ordinances have been adopted over the years, these tactical changes do not adequately address future development and do not promote equitable, sustainable growth. With the UDO, our community will realize social and economic benefits from an integrated plan for development, and growth targeted for a better future.

The UDO is a smart, unified approach for future development that considers the needs of all Charlotteans.  A few of the key benefits:

  1. More comprehensible regulations. The UDO combines regulations and standards from eight (8) different development ordinances into a single comprehensive document, making the development process more efficient, while addressing the need for more sustainable and equitable housing for families.
  1. More accessible, affordable housing options. Demand for housing has increased redevelopment across Charlotte neighborhoods, often displacing families through gentrification, for example. By adding duplex/triplex/quadruplex housing, families will have access to more affordable options, mitigating housing price increases often associated with redevelopment. The UDO also ensures neighborhood preservation through Historic District and Neighborhood Character Overlays.
  1. More green spaces, less congested traffic patterns. The UDO is specifically designed to create more accessible and walkable neighborhoods, reducing the need for driving and, in some cases, purchasing a car. It also seeks to integrate development and transportation planning, serving high density areas with thoughtful mass transit services. The cost burden to put a “car centric” infrastructure in place impacts everyone. And retrofitting green space amenities after the fact is also expensive.

The need for the UDO is clear. The current Zoning laws are outdated and woefully inadequate given the rate of growth in Charlotte. The new UDO is based on a strategic growth mapping that will sustain Charlotte’s neighborhoods and promote equitable prosperity for families far into the future.

We ask for your vote in support of the UDO on August 22.  Thank you for your service to our community.

Justin Perry, Founder, OneMECK

Mike O’Sullivan, Chair, OneMECK Affordable Housing Committee

OneMECK Theory of Change

Unanimously approved at OneMECK meeting 3/10/2022 (updated 6/13/2024)

Who we are:

OneMECK Coalition is an alliance of Mecklenburg County organizations and individuals that advocates for equitable access to economic opportunity and housing in all parts of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

 

What is the real problem we are trying to solve?

  • Inequitable access to housing arising from socio-economic and racial inequity and discrimination, both caused and exacerbated by institutional and systemic barriers including public and private sector policies and practices.

Our Theory of Change:

  1. In order to increase economic mobility and to increase economic and racial residential diversity that optimizes opportunity in education, work, and life, the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County must address the institutional systems and structures that create barriers to equitable housing while increasing the inventory of geographically dispersed affordable housing. This includes addressing, through action, the enduring impact of our community’s legacies of:
  • Public and private policies and practices that support inequity
  • Institutional, systemic, and structural racism
  • Economic classism, racial bias, and the continuing exclusion of historically marginalized groups
  • Power structures that disenfranchise people
  • Lack of political will to make and to sustain institutional, legal, political, systemic and structural changes
  1. Multi-pronged, cross-sector changes to institutions, systems, policies, and practices supporting structural inequity will be required to create neighborhoods and schools that are sustainably economically diverse, and thus racially diverse. This includes forging partnerships with public sector entities (such as elected officials and policy makers), the nonprofit sector (for living wage workforce development and affordable housing development) and private sector organizations and individuals (such as employers and developers).

To accomplish this, OneMECK will be strategic in inviting new coalition members (individuals and organizations), in joining initiatives, and in taking actions that are focused on making changes to institutions, systems, policies, and practices that impact the creation and preservation of equitable access to quality housing across Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.

Our focus of work:

Historically, we have addressed these issues at macro- (governmental and organizational systems and structures), mezzo- ( policies and practices), and micro-levels (initiatives focused on individuals and neighborhoods). Going forward, OneMECK will focus its strategies on the mezzo-level, in consideration of our theory of change and our capacity as an alliance. We will accomplish this by adopting a “big Issues” focus while continuing to chip away at small wins (a “both/and” approach). We will also build on the strengths of our individual coalition members to accomplish the development of policy advocacy content and the requisite supporting narrative to change hearts and minds.

Past examples of our work at this level of advocacy include the following.

Mezzo-level:

  1. Housing Trust Fund (HTF) increase from $15 million to $50 million, and from $50 million to $100 million.
  2. Adoption of a process for the evaluation of projects receiving HTF funding with institutionalized and meaningful participation from the affected people in the community.
  3. Expansion by the City of code enforcement to limit future Lake Arbors, including use of the in rem
  4. Establishing relationships with and educating new City Council Members and County Commissioners about the institutional and systemic barriers to equitable housing access and possible solutions.
  5. Advocated for use by CMS and the County of the ground-leasing allowed by state law to work with the City on maximizing public land for housing access.
  6. Rejection by the Mecklenburg delegation to the General Assembly of the motel eviction bill and the school system deconsolidation bill.
  7. Adoption in the 2040 Plan of multi-family zoning allowances in former exclusive single-family zones.
  8. Formation by the three local governmental entities of a common plan for using public land to increase housing access across the community.
  9. Adoption of principles for student assignment reprioritizing socioeconomic diversity that allowed:
  • paired schools;
  • magnet lottery with socioeconomic diversity; and
  • boundaries for new schools to take into account socioeconomic diversity, while calling for collaboration from both City and County from their sphere of influence (housing/neighborhood development) in creating communities with socioeconomic diversity
  1. Successfully advocated for rejection of HB514 by CMS, town charter bill
  2. Successfully advocated for creation of an equity committee by CMS, of which student assignment is a primary subcommittee.

 

Our Strategy Selection Screen:

  1. Is this initiative aligned with our theory of change?
  2. Is this an issue that is a one-off, or is there data to indicate that it is representative of a larger, systemic issue relative to housing access and/or housing supply?
  3. Will pursuing this initiative plausibly address and meaningfully affect policies, practices and/or institutional barriers related to the problem?
  4. Does OneMECK have the capacity to effectively make a difference, alone or in partnership with others?

 

Our Decision Making Process:

OneMECK is a flexible and dynamic alliance, dependent on close teamwork to set direction and make decisions.  The work of the alliance is typically done by small teams, organically formed by engaged members volunteering.

Major decisions, such as endorsement of a proposal, must be brought to the full OneMECK team for review.  There needs to be sufficient time, typically at least one week, to give everyone a chance to weigh in.  The preferred process is to distribute the proposal for review, and then to hold meetings to reach consensus.  Each member of the OneMECK team is encouraged to actively participate, and to contribute their insights to strengthen the final product. Time lines that are too tight to allow adequate time for team input will not

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