Newly formed Coatesville Housing Association questions city fees and codes
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
COATESVILLE – Landlords continued to raise concerns over recent fee increases at Monday night’s City Council meeting.
Members of the newly formed Coatesville Housing Association, a group organized to represent the interest of city landlords, said that they are being overcharged for fees, some of which do not provide services in return.
“Most fees require something to be provided in the form of a service. Some of the fees the city is charging do not include services. It’s a fee that provides no service, which some would consider a registration fee,” said David DeSimone of the Housing Association. “Many of the fees, we feel, are possibly considered an illegal tax to generate revenue for the city.”
A few landlords said that they believe the city is using the fees to try to generate revenue.
DeSimone said that he found out from a Freedom of Information Request that the city had over 3,000 rental applications last year. With application fees now at $100, the city would get over $300,000 from these fees.
City Council said that money from fees is not enough to make a significant difference in the city’s budget.
“Let me make one thing clear—Coatesville’s annual budget is between $8.5 and 9 million a year. The amount of money that is being raised is insignificant compared to the budget,” said City Council President David Collins.
The requirement of a third-floor egress was another issue that the landlords brought to City Council’s attention.
Housing units with three floors are required, per city code, to have a third floor exit. DeSimone said that national building code only requires a second floor exit, and the city should follow that rule.
The issue is compounded by the fact that the city has recently started enforcing the 1962 code requiring an egress, meaning that many homeowners and landlords who never had a problem before are now being told they must add third floor exits.
DeSimone said that he has had three buildings built over the past 18 years that have met city standards, but in the past two months, these buildings have been deemed in violation of city code.
Crystal Thomas, a homeowner, also shared her concern over the issue, saying that when she bought her home 20 years ago, there were no issues with her third floor, but now she’s required to add an egress. She also said that the additional exit could lead to more break-ins.
City Manager Kirby Hudson said that the issue is a matter of safety.
Hudson said that while in college in Pittsburgh, he once witnessed a burning house with people trapped on a third floor with no exit. He said that he wants to prevent such occurrences in Coatesville.
“I can’t explain why the second means of egress wasn’t enforced; it’s on the books. I can’t explain why it wasn’t done in the past,” said Hudson.
He also said that people must remember that many homes in the city are older and do not have the same fire safety measures as new homes.
“If you’re stuck somewhere, you may not have the time to vacate as if it was a more newly constructed house, so people, in my opinion, are already in somewhat of a dangerous or precarious situation. This law is to help make sure people are safe,” he said.
City Council has agreed to meet with the landlords in coming weeks to review fees and work together toward a solution.
In other city news, City Council passed a code preventing the burning of recyclable materials. The action will be punishable at the city’s discretion, probably with a $25 citation, according to City Solicitor John Carnes.
A movie could be shot partially in Coatesville next month.
Filmmaker Skye Dennis appeared before City Council to ask permission to shoot scenes in Coatesville Nov. 16-26. City Council advised Dennis to speak with Hudson and Police Chief Jack Laufer to examine how the film would represent Coatesville and the logistics of organizing the shoot, should it take place.
Well well, after some of the slum lords have been raking in the rent money for years and not making any repairs on their properties they now want to cry because the city is finally getting up to speed and charging them fees like other towns do. How about cleaning up your properties guys and maybe the city will reconsider the fees?? If not I say keep charging them! There used to be a law on the books that you had to have all of your property taxes paid up to date or you could not renew your rental license, is that rule still enforced??
300,000 is almost a third of a million dollars, that’s a lot of money. It’s about one twenty-seventh of the City budget, let me make this clear, that’s a lot of money.
Kirby Hudson and city council have bent over backwards to fuck over the landlords in town. Get that creep out of his position and leave the landlords alone!
First of all your language is offensive and just wrong. You must be one of the cry baby slum lords. If you can’y pay why don’t you sell and get out of town, the fees are nothing when it comes to peoples safety. For too long you and your slum lord friends have gotten away with way too much and have left the city looking terrible. And where do these land lords get off telling the city what they are going to pay? This city would be better off with out Dave and his group of whiny babies. Kudos to Kirby and City Council for trying to make things better here, keep up the good work !
Amen Cheese, I own a property that is 72 yrs in my family . I refuse to do sect but can barely keep the place afloat. These fools get $1100 for an apartment I can only get $800 for. Funny part is I don’t even care if I make money but the place still needs alot of work . I have poured over 20 yrs of my life into bringing it back . I totally resent these little sect 8 kingdoms and if the cuts to food stamps are any indication , these slum lords better start thinking of selling soon. This town is soooo dumb , they could attract young people if they were smart but instead the entrenched landlords won’t give up the $ .