The Henderson City Council called a special meeting for noon Wednesday to review a draft of the city’s revised minimum housing code. The board could approve the revised code at its regular monthly meeting on Aug. 8.

WIZS News received a copy of the 17-page code, with its proposed edits, changes and additions highlighted.

City Manager Terrell Blackmon told John C. Rose via email Wednesday that most of the proposed changes are mainly for clarification, with a few changes or additions to the existing code.

Blackmon explained, adding that the work session is a chance to “shake out all of the kinks” in advance of the Aug. 8 meeting.

Last Friday, the council’s public safety and land planning committees held a joint meeting to discuss decent, safe housing within Henderson. Rental properties across the city are subject to certain minimal standards for occupancy, but sometimes those standards prove challenging to enforce.

State law prohibits local governments from adopting stricter regulations than what the state prescribes, according to the city’s Development Services Director Corey Williams. Williams and his team are responsible for code enforcement, so he stays current on what is allowed and not allowed.

According to N.C. General Statutes 160D, Article 12, local governments generally can’t require owners or managers of rental properties to register their properties or enroll in any type of governmental program as a condition of obtaining a certificate of occupancy.

John C. Rose discussed some of the particulars included in the draft proposal on Wednesday’s Town Talk; LISTEN HERE or below.

Included in the proposed revisions are topics such as use of safety devices and physical soundness of the dwelling.

For example, if a property uses fossil fuel as its heating source, there must be a carbon monoxide detector installed. And it is not permissible to use a portable space heater as a primary heat source.

And although gutters and downspouts aren’t required, if they are installed on a dwelling, they have to be in good working order. Fences have to be in good repair, as do roofs, walls and ceilings – no rot or structural compromise.

Each bathroom, water closet, laundry room and furnace room must have at least one GCFI outlet; there must be proper kitchen and bathroom facilities.

What happens when an emergency repair is needed and the property owner or authorized agent isn’t available? According to the current code, property owners are supposed to designate a person who can address repairs in the absence of the owner.

If the draft is approved as written, owners of rental property in Henderson and the ETJ must have someone who lives in Vance, Person, Granville, Franklin or Warren counties as the authorized agent “for the purpose of accepting service of process.” Owners will have to give the Code Compliance Division that person’s contact information and could face penalties if they fail to do so after being contacted by city staff to comply.

Another proposed revision to the code speaks specifically to emergency repairs. “Upon showing that a condition in a dwelling or dwelling unit poses an immediate threat of danger or harm to the safety of the occupants…Board of Adjustment (or City Council) shall adopt an ordinance ordering the administrator to repair such condition.”

The property owner or authorized agent will be give 72 hours’ notice to make the repair, and if no action is taken, the repair will be made and a lien against the property will be filed to recover the cost.

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