COUNCIL MEMBERS PLAN TO `DISSENT' MINIMUM PROPERTY CODE

Cape Girardeau City Council members apparently will dissect a proposed minimum property maintenance code before considering passage of the measure.

The code was recommended last month by the city's Board of Appeals, which spent more than a year considering various ways to regulate substandard buildings in the city.

Board members have said the Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) version of the minimum property maintenance code is the most appropriate for Cape Girardeau.

But council members, who met Thursday with the Board of Appeals to discuss the proposal, objected to several sections in the code.

Mayor Gene Rhodes said he thought the BOCA code was far too intrusive.

"I'd have to be ready for Farmington the insane asylum to vote for this," Rhodes said. "I would never consent to adopting this code.

"All we're doing is building up a bureaucracy, and we'll end up with a bunch of empty houses and houses getting torn down."

Councilman David Limbaugh cited one of the first sections of the code that seems to give code inspectors wide enforcement latitude.

"There are those of us who are concerned about the potential intrusive nature of this," Limbaugh added. "(The section) kind of reinforces that."

Councilman Al Spradling III emphasized that, despite public perception, the minimum property maintenance code applies to all properties in the city, not only rental units.

He said landlords likely will draft contracts for their tenants that will make renters responsible for many of the code regulations relating to the building's interior.

The result could be higher rent for tenants and regulations that the landlord-tenant contracts would undermine. "We're really creating a monster out of this and making it useless at the same time," Sprad~ling said.

Councilman Mary Wulfers said she wanted minimum property standards but added she wants to "butcher up" the BOCA code proposal.

"I think it's an excellent start," she said. "I think this is a good basis, and since we have a basis, let's work from that.

"Why don't we go through this and if we have to put a hatchet to this, let's put a hatchet to it."

Even one of the appeals board members architect Anton Sebek said he personally didn't think the city needed a minimum property maintenance code.

"We all have problems with this code," Sebek said. "I'm personally willing to say I'm not really excited about this code.

"I think there are some minimum ordinances that you could pass to address minimum health standards."

But board chairman Ralph Flori said a "customized" city version or property regulations wouldn't be tested in the courts as has the BOCA code.

"You write your own code and you're right back in the courts again," Flori said.

He said the code would be enforced only on a complaint basis and called unwarranted those fears that the measure would become more restrictive with time.

Appeals board members said they were under the impression that the council and city staff wanted a code and that they were charged to determine the most appropriate measure for Cape Girardeau.

But council members said they never made assurances that they ultimately would approve such a code.

"If we pass this right now, half the rental properties in Cape Girardeau will go right out the door," said Rhodes.

Limbaugh said the code is a good blueprint for appropriate maintenance of property, but he questioned why the city needed to enforce something that's in the best interest of property owners to regulate themselves.

"Ideally, all this should be done," he said. "But the question is whether government ought to be the one forcing property owners to do this."

But Flori said the city staff has asked for a code to deal with complaints primarily from tenants of substandard buildings. Existing city codes apply only to new construction and renovations.

Flori said he's been in buildings in Cape Girardeau that "shouldn't have had a dog living in there" and that many properties are fire and health hazards.

"There are a lot of accidents just waiting to happen in Cape Girardeau," Flori said.

The council will continue to study the issue and members agreed Thursday to submit by Aug. 15 their suggested changes with the BOCA proposal to the city staff. The council also plans to conduct a public hearing on the issue in August.