Does RUCO work?

With much fanfare the City unveiled the Rental Unit Certificate of Occupancy ordinance requiring that property owners renting out their homes or apartments get a certificate from the City indicating that the unit meets basic health and safety standards before it is occupied. Being that Glenwood has a large number of rental homes, I took it upon myself to spend two weeks back in April using the City's RUCO database to see whether homes which had For Rent signs in their yards or were listed on craigslist.org had a RUCO certificate. Of the 17 properties I looked up in the database, only 3 had existing certificates. Initially I was told by Local Ordinance Enforcement staff that if we submitted addresses to them they would send a letter out to the property owners informing them of the new ordinance. Two weeks later I found out in a follow-up phone call that not all staff were on the same page, and that, in fact, they do not send out letters to property owners when notified of a violation.

Here is the problem, per city staff, enforcement will only be taken if someone has moved into the unit and only then if there is evidence of a lease. I know that in one case, students living in a home two doors from me, had only a verbal lease but were living in a home without a certificate. They moved out at the end of May and now new tenants have moved in to the same house. Once again I looked the address up in the City's database and there is still no certificate for the property and so today I called them again. My sense with this issue, and with the front yard parking ordinance, the City is happy with the image that they are doing something about an issue by creating an ordinance, but an ordinance is only so good as the willingness to enforce it. The City really needs to step up to the plate in the early days of these ordinances to show that they mean business.

At some point, I will plan to request from the City a listing of all of the violations of RUCO since the law went into effect and what actions the City has taken. Same for the Front Yard Parking Ordinance. Maybe there are some other folks out there interested in accountability who would be willing to help me with this task. In the meantime, I will continue to report violations of the RUCO ordinance to the City's LOE.

Housing Stabilization Grant Funds to Come to Glenwood

Folks involved in the neighborhood association have probably heard this news before and I'm sure most of us fall in to the category of "we'll believe it when we see it." But, let's hope that this time it is for real. The number of abandoned, vacant, and condemned houses in Glenwood seems to get greater every day. I look forward to hearing more details from the City on what their process will be for identifying and purchasing properties. We definitely need more homeowners in our neighborhood.

Front Yard Parking Ordinance Enforcement

Yesterday I submitted a list of 298 indiviudal properties to the City's Planning Department in the Glenwood neighborhood that are not currently in compliance with the new Front Yard Parking Ordinance that went into effect on July 15. This was based on a windshield survey done in mid-June and does not include the portions of Glenwood west of Aycock or south of Florida. I am not clear as of right now how enforcement will be handled or what the process is for compliance or what the penalties are for not complying. I imagine that, like the RUCO ordinance before it, it will take some time to work through the initial deluge the city will get on out of compliance properties. As far as I know, the City has only 2 inspectors assigned to handle this work at this time. I think it would be in the best interest of the City and its citizens if it could figure out a way to provide some additional staff, even on a temporary basis, to work through this backlog in the first year; otherwise, it will be frustrating for everyone involved to have an ordinance that can't really be enforced due to lack of staff.

National Night Out on August 4th

Come join your neighbors in a Community Potluck Picnic! Glenwood is holding this year's National Night Out at Steelman Park on Tuesday, August 4th, from 6pm-8pm.

GGNA will be serving up hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks for the event. Bring a dish to share and come hang out with fellow Glenwood residents!

* * *National Night Out is designed to:
Heighten crime & drug prevention awareness.
Generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs.
Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships.

Send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back!

* * *Steelman Park is located on the 900 block of Highland Avenue & Gregory Street.

We hope to see you there!

Truth in Advertising?

From a house on Gregory St....taken today.

Community Garden Tour to Come to Glenwood

The first Community Garden tour of Greensboro is occurring on July 23 and it will be stopping by our very own community garden in Steelman Park. What a great opportunity to show people a different side of Glenwood than the common misperceptions. I'm hoping to be out there when people swing by and hope others will join in. Here's the info from the organizers...

The Guilford County office of NC Cooperative Extension service and the master gardener volunteers, along with the community garden plot holders, are proud to sponsor the first-ever Tour of Community Gardens in order to showcase the diversity, potential and excitement surrounding community gardening in Guilford county. Visitors will have an opportunity to see what plot holders are doing to save on grocery bills, feed their families better tasting and more wholesome food, and in many cases also contribute fresh vegetables to those in need in our community. The 16 Community Gardens on the Tour will be open from 4-8 PM on Thursday July 23rd – rain or shine. Visitors can choose to see one, some, or all of the gardens! For detailed information on each garden, please visit Guilford County Extension's website at www.guilfordgardenanswers.com. A more comprehensive “Guide to the Gardens” brochure will be available for download no later than Monday July 13th. You can also call the county Extension office at 375-5876 with any questions.