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Council advances changes to rental-permit rules and establishes ad hoc affordable housing subcommittee to review inspections
Summary
Council read an ordinance changing rental-permit language to require a designated local emergency contact and adopted a resolution creating a one-year ad hoc Affordable Housing Commission subcommittee to review rental code inspection processes; public commenters urged stronger tenant protections and better coordination with renters.
Athens City Council on Sept. 2 read for the first time an ordinance that would change rental‑permit rules to require owners or property managers to name a designated local emergency contact who lives in the county, and would impose an additional $25 fee per unit for properties owned by persons or businesses whose primary address is 50 miles or more outside the city.
Councilmember Swank introduced Ordinance 94-25, which replaces the earlier term “authorized agent” with “designated local emergency contact” and adds that the contact “must reside within the county.” The ordinance also exempts apartment complexes with a local office manager and rentals managed by local rental management companies from the added fee. Swank said the goal is to speed communication when the city needs to reach someone responsible for an occupied rental unit.
Separately, council unanimously adopted Resolution O4-25 to create a one-year ad hoc subcommittee under the Affordable Housing Commission to review rental code inspection processes, with quarterly reporting to council. The subcommittee composition was amended before adoption: members will be recommended by the Affordable Housing Commission and approved by council, and the resolution’s language about including a ‘student renter’ on the subcommittee was changed to a broader “renter” to ensure representation of nonstudent renters.
Council discussed how the code office will verify that the designated local emergency contact is an actual person (not an agency), and the administration said it will require a human name and phone number. Director of Code Enforcement procedures will implement that directive.
During public comment, residents described negative experiences with code inspections. One tenant said an inspector entered a bedroom while the resident was asleep and opened a closet with personal items, calling for improved procedures, more tenant-friendly scheduling and better rapport between inspectors and renters. Councilmembers and staff said they plan to include tenant focus groups and outreach as part of the ad hoc subcommittee’s work.
Both the ordinance and the resolution will return for further consideration; the ordinance was read for the first time and the resolution was adopted at the meeting.
