CODE SEEN AS CURSE, BLESSING

Some people view Cape Girardeau's proposed property maintenance code as a blessing. To others, it is a curse.

But after four years of debate, the city council is scheduled to give first reading Monday night to an ordinance establishing a property maintenance code.

The measure deals with everything from weeds to windows.

Proponents say the code establishes minimum property standards for houses, apartments and businesses with an emphasis on health and safety. They say it targets slumlords who own dilapidated houses and apartments.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association has been a big backer of the measure, arguing it will help preserve older neighborhoods.

But critics say it doesn't make sense to adopt a citywide measure to deal with a few bad landlords.

They view the code as an unwarranted expansion of government that will put the city in the middle of landlord-tenant and neighborhood disputes.

It also will result in higher-priced rental units that will make it more difficult for poor people to live in Cape Girardeau, critics argue.

Supporters like Councilman Tom Neumeyer believe the property code is sorely needed.

Neumeyer lives in the downtown area and helped found the Downtown Neighborhood Association a year ago.

He said slumlords are invading older neighborhoods and destroying property values.

"Why should we let these outsiders destroy a good neighborhood?" Neumeyer said.

He said the maintenance code involves minimum standards that won't pose a problem for most property owners.

The real issue is one of health and safety, he said.

"We just don't have room for slumlords because these tenants in these slums are living in unsafe conditions and there is just no reason for that," Neumeyer said.

He cited the case of a woman with children, who for months couldn't get her landlord to provide her with a stove.

"No one should be living in unsafe and unhealthy conditions just because they are poor," Neumeyer said.

If approve, the measure will be enforced on a complaint basis.

But councilmen Richard Eggimann and Jack Rickard don't see a need for such a code.

Eggimann said the city already has nuisance laws to deal with poorly maintained properties and structures.

Other city officials, however, say the current laws aren't adequate.

Eggimann said the proposed regulations require rat-proof shields for basement windows.

"I think that is just extraneous," he said, adding that the code would raise housing costs. "It is going to leave less housing for the poor people, without any question," he said. "I think it is an attack on poor people, to put it rather bluntly."

Rickard, who owns rental property, said he wouldn't support the code unless it is substantially amended. He said the penalty provisions are too severe.

Under the measure, violators face a fine of $25 to $500, a maximum jail sentence of 90 days, or both.

Those filing false complaints would be subject to the same penalties.

Rickard wants to delete the listing of various building codes from the document.

"Probably not more than two houses in Cape Girardeau could withstand inspection," he said.

He estimated he would have to spend $12,000 to bring his 36-year-old brick home up to code.

He suggested the city scrap the proposed measure and write a new code based on the state's Community Development Block Grant guidelines for rehabilitation of houses.

Those guidelines, he said, are simpler to follow.