COUNCIL WON'T RUSH PROPERTY CODES

With some council members voicing reservations about a minimum property maintenance code, the Cape Girardeau City Council agreed Monday to take its time considering the measure.

Rick Murray, Cape Girardeau's supervisor of inspection services, discussed the Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) minimum property maintenance code at the council's study session Monday. Adoption of the code has been recommended by the city's Board of Appeals.

But some of the council members questioned the need for the measure and said they fear it would be far-reaching and intrusive.

"It seems like this is really big government to me," said Councilman David Limbaugh.

Councilman Al Spradling III said the code would reduce the number of available rental units in the city. He questioned the need for such a measure.

"When I start reading this and start reading all of our other building codes, I find it oppressive, and I find another level of bureaucracy oppressive," Spradling said.

But Murray said there is a need to better regulate land owners who have unsafe and decrepit property. He said inspections for violations would be based solely on complaints not annually or with each change of tenancy. He also denied there would be any inspection fee.

Murray said the code includes provisions to punish those who lodge false complaints.

But Spradling said false complaints will be difficult to prove. "After reading this, I think we're in for a major nightmare," he added.

Mayor Gene Rhodes added, "This is developing into a bureaucracy I'm not totally comfortable with."

The council agreed to meet next month with the board of appeals to further discuss the proposal. Later that month, the council will hold a special meeting to consider action on the measure.

Murray said the BOCA property maintenance code would enable the city to enforce an unobtrusive standard to which most property owners already comply.

He said the code has a "proven track record" in other communities where it's been tried, so the city isn't "trying to reinvent the wheel. The staff feels we need some type of vehicle to provide the community a minimum standard," he added.

Murray said the code would apply to every property in Cape Girardeau and would empower the city staff to require the owners of abandoned buildings such as the old St. Francis Hospital and Marquette Hotel to bring them up to code or have them demolished.

He said many of the concerns property owners expressed during the process of reviewing the code have been addressed through amendments.

Ralph Flori, a plumbing contractor who serves as chairman of the board of appeals, said the code is "not meant to be mean and vindictive.

"It was brought up primarily because of some of the bad and very difficult conditions some of our citizens are living under," Flori said.

Now, there are no city codes that regulate minimum property standards. "As it stands right now," Flori added, "we need this code in Cape Girardeau."

Robert Ridgeway, Cape Girardeau's new fire chief, also advocated approval of the code.

He said he bought a home on Perry Avenue recently that has been occupied by six college students. He said three of the students lived in a divided basement with panelled walls, a single exit and no smoke detectors.

"I'll guarantee you, you wouldn't want your kids living in conditions like that," Ridgeway said. "I have a problem with that." The fire chief said the minimum property maintenance code is aimed at such concerns.

The city has debated the need for a minimum property maintenance code for several years. But when a group of citizens last year urged that action be taken to force landlords with decrepit property to upgrade their rentals, the city resurrected the issue.

To date, the debate over the code has focused primarily on rental properties, often with renters seated on one side of the council chambers during board of appeals meetings and landlords seated across the aisle.