Richmond
City Council – Richmond City Hall - 900 E. Broad Street, Suite 305 - Richmond,
Virginia 23219 U.S.A. - www.council.richmondva.gov
COUNCIL PUBLIC
INFORMATION NEWS RELEASE
IMMEDIATE RELEASE TO BE FORWARDED AND SHARED
Wednesday,
22 July 2015
The
Honorable Parker C. Agelasto
Councilman,
Richmond City Council, Richmond Central 5th Voter District
Regarding: Withdrawal of Proposed Council Resolution No. 2014-R158
requesting Richmond Chief Administrative Officer to develop a program that establishes rental
inspection districts and requires inspection of
residential real estate dwelling units within such districts pursuant to Va.
Code § 36-105.1:1 and to submit a proposed ordinance setting forth the particulars
of such program to the Council for its consideration and adoption.
(Richmond, Virginia U.S.A.) – "As
residents of the 5th District have repeatedly expressed concerns about rental
properties and the negative impacts of absent landlords in their neighborhoods,
I was disappointed that Richmond City Council and the Administration of Mayor
Jones would not support looking further into a city rental inspection program.
Due to their lack of support, I have
withdrawn my proposed resolution that would have sought the Administration to
develop criteria for establishing an effective rental inspection program, which
ultimately would have included additional public input and an Ordinance adopted
by Richmond City Council.
Nonetheless, I stand committed and will
continue to look at ways to further enhance Richmond laws to make building and
property code enforcement more effective.
I strongly believe that property owners
must take responsibility for their tenants and enforce the terms of their
leases, such as those requiring tenants to properly maintain a property. For
example, it is categorically unacceptable that the Richmond Department of
Public Works, Richmond Department of Planning and Development Review Office of
Code Enforcement, or any other city government departments is being forced to
absorb cleanup costs when tenants move out.
Please help me and our community combat
this issue by reporting violations to the Richmond Department of Planning and
Development Review Office of Code Enforcement, at 804.646.4169. When reporting,
please provide a specific property addresses and photos if you can and, if you
have access to the internet, use the City's database to research property
records and include the name of the property owner and any contact information
that is available.
Let's also share all this information
publicly. I highly encourage everyone to post their pictures and any other
details on Facebook and/or other social media to bring even greater awareness
to these individual properties.
For those who need to know how to become
more responsible, Richmond Law/City Code requires that trash be placed in
receptacles. Please also bag it and, if it cannot fit into the trashcan, it is
best to take the larger items to one of the two Richmond dumps/landfills, which
are located at 3520 N Hopkins Road, 804.232.8488 (tel), and 3800 E Richmond
Road, 804.646.4706 (tel).
It is not the job of City sanitation
workers to clean up trash, litter and debris that is not properly placed for
collection, they work hard to keep our City clean but it is impossible when
others are not doing their part. Those responsible should be held accountable,
tenants need to do better and certain landlords need to pay to clean up the
messes left behind from vacated tenants.
Calling 311, reporting to SeeClickFix, or
asking the Richmond Department of Public Works to do all the work is shifting a
tenant and landlord’s cost responsibility to that of the taxpayer. Security
deposits and leases are structured for this very reason and it is about time
that landlords and tenants live up to their responsibilities.
Some of Richmond's key laws regarding
residential trash can be found in the Richmond Code of Laws/Ordinances: Chapter
86; Article 1 through IV, at https://www.municode.com/library/va/richmond/codes/code_of_ordinances
Once again, while I have withdrawn my
current rental inspection proposal, I am actively looking at alternative
legislation to make Richmond building and property Code Enforcement more
effective. Thank you everyone for their work and support in helping to rid our
city neighborhoods of this problem."
CONTACT For more information, please contact:
The
Honorable Parker C. Agelasto, Councilman
Richmond
City Council, Richmond Central 5th Voter District, at 804.646.6050
(tel), or parker.agelasto@richmondgov.com (email)
- E N D –
