Rental permit moratorium up for discussion at IC council meeting
Hunter
5/21/19
The Iowa City City Council will be discussing a moratorium on rental permits in neighborhoods that are attempting to strike a balance between homeowners and renters. Ahead of that meeting, opinions on both sides have been received by the City.
A letter from the law firm representing the Greater Iowa City Apartment Association is weighing in on the moratorium, which would continue the current status quo of a 30 percent cap on rental properties in mostly single-family and duplex residence neighborhoods. The Davis Brown Law Firm of Des Moines believes the Moratorium would be a violation of a state law that was passed recently, which states that a city “shall not adopt an ordinance placing a cap on residential rental permits for single-family or duplex dwellings.” In a letter to the Council, the firm says, “In short, the City is effectively attempting to circumvent the Iowa Constitution simply by labeling its rental cap as a ‘moratorium.’” They call the proposed Moratorium “undoubtedly not enforceable.”
Another group weighing in is the Committee To Organize Graduate Students union, or COGS. They believe any limitation on permit issuance would negatively affect incoming and returning graduate students looking for rental housing. In an undated letter to the Council, they say that they empathize with the frustration of younger residents sometimes causing a nuisance in otherwise quiet neighborhoods. However, they write, “these nuisances can all be addressed by existing municipal code without resorting to reducing the available rental units and options for responsible property owners and renters. The union also says that their members are not “a series of problems to solve, (but) are community members like you and deserve all the rights afforded to other residents of the city.”
The non-profit group Landlords of Iowa also are strongly opposed to the moratorium.
Several residents sent letters to the Council endorsing the moratorium, some applauding the mix as it currently stands, and fears that their neighborhoods will deteriorate if there’s no cap on rental permits. In an email from resident Tim Weitzel, he writes that “Unregulated occupancy goes against thirty years or more of urban planning in these neighborhoods.”
The council meets Tuesday evening and citizens are encouraged to make comments on the proposed moratorium.
