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Residents and council spar over rental-standards ordinance as first reading proceeds
Summary
Public commenters and several council members warned the council against rushing a proposed ordinance establishing minimum rental-housing standards, saying the draft contained incorrect code cross-references and lacked landlord input. The measure was placed on the agenda for first reading; legal counsel and the sponsor said changes were discussed in committee.
Several residents urged the Pine Bluff City Council on May 18 to delay action on a proposed ordinance that would add minimum rental-housing standards to the city code, arguing the draft is rushed and contains drafting errors. During the public-comment period, Lloyd Franklin said he supports “safe, adequate housing” but opposed the ordinance “in its current form” and asked the council to pull it so stakeholders can negotiate changes.
Franklin told the council the measure appears to cite Little Rock code sections instead of Pine Bluff code and asserted the ordinance could affect “roughly 40% of the housing market.” “If you’re going to propose anything that affects property rights, livelihoods, and roughly 40% of the housing market, the very least you could do is make sure the code references are actually Pine Bluff’s,” he said.
Sponsor Council Member Fails and City Attorney Childers responded that the draft had been revised and discussed in committee. Childers told the council that substantive changes made to a previously tabled item can make it a new ordinance for the purposes of placement on the council agenda. Fails said he had incorporated feedback from meetings with other council members and from a committee discussion.
Resident Ivan Whitfield also urged caution. “Bad law is worse than no law,” he said, arguing that an ordinance rushed through without detailed stakeholder engagement could impose burdens on property owners and lead to unintended consequences.
The ordinance text, presented for a first reading, would add Article 12 to Chapter 7 and sets out tenant protections, implied residential quality standards and reporting/inspection procedures; it cites state code sections and provisions of the International Property Maintenance Code. The draft includes penalties for violations (fines listed in the text) and a clause that the ordinance takes effect 31 days after passage.
The council did not vote on final passage of the ordinance; City Attorney Childers and several council members noted there remains time for revision because the item was listed for a first reading. Council members who said they had not received a physical copy at committee asked that drafts be circulated more broadly before further readings.
What’s next: The sponsor said the item will return for subsequent readings at the next regular meetings; council members and staff indicated there is still opportunity to modify the measure between first reading and a third reading vote.
