Council Passes Nuisance Property Bylaw

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, October 7, 2024 (Part 2)

This meeting was held in hybrid format and was recorded.

Present
Lynn Griesemer (President, District 2), Mandi Jo Hanneke, Andy Steinberg, Ellisha Walker (at large), Freke Ette and Cathy Schoen (District 1), Pat DeAngelis (District 2), Hala Lord (District 3), Pam Rooney and Jennifer Taub (District 4), and Ana Devlin Gauthier and Bob Hegner (District 5). Absent: George Ryan (District 3).

Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of the Council)

The council voted 10-2, with Ellisha Walker (at large) and Hala Lord (District 3) dissenting, to accept the revised Nuisance Property bylaw. The discussion included Police Chief Gabriel Ting and Building Commissioner Rob Morra who were both present at most of the Community Resources Committee (CRC) meetings where the proposed bylaw was crafted. The bylaw was previously discussed at the September 13 Town Council meeting.

The bylaw revision gives the town more flexibility in protecting  “the quiet enjoyment of residents in town” by involving the owners and management of offending properties when a citation is issued for “the unreasonable interference with or disturbance of the general welfare of a neighborhood or the Town through documented pervasive criminal activity, code violations, or other causes precipitating the deployment of any town resource.” The bylaw applies to all properties, whether they are owner-occupied or leased. The most common citations are issued for excessive noise or underage drinking, but the bylaw would also apply to not clearing sidewalks of debris or snow or illegally parking cars on a property. . 

Under the new bylaw, the owner and/or manager of a property will be notified of each violation and be required to create a corrective action plan if there are three or more violations within a year. Morra said that there is also an opportunity to increase inspection schedules, which could impact the renewal or issuance of the next rental permit.

Ting said the new bylaw would not affect the way the police department deals with complaints, but sometimes, in responding to a noise complaint, officers notice other violations to report to Inspection Services. Morra noted that the revised bylaw allows the police department and inspection services to work together. 

Andy Steinberg (at large) asked why the town’s other two public safety departments, Fire/EMS and CRESS, were not included in the bylaw. Ting replied that the fire department has its own avenues for dealing with fire safety violations, and CRESS does not yet respond to noise complaints and other situations covered by the bylaw, but could be added at a later date if that changes.

Cathy Schoen (District 1) suggested that a rental property that is designated a nuisance property for two years in a row be at risk for losing its rental permit. Walker, however, pointed out that the property might have different renters in the second year who would be punished for the violations of the previous occupants. She also asked how landlords would be able to reinstate a rental permit if it were revoked. CRC member Jennifer Taub (District 4) said that if a second set of tenants violates the bylaw, that suggests the management and/or owner haven’t figured out a way to keep things under control. Morra agreed that the bylaw is focused on having the owner or landlord address the behavior so that future tenants are aware of the issue. As to reinstating a rental permit, Morra said the landlord would need to demonstrate a change in the management of the property that will address the violation and ensure it won’t continue. The two-year window for violations passed 8-4 (Hanneke, Steinberg, Walker, and Pat DeAngelis voting no).

Hanneke added other amendments to the bylaw, including removing the phrase “offensive to community moral standards” from the definition of a public nuisance and to add the phrase “repeated and persistent” violations of state and local laws. These amendments passed by a 12-0 vote

DeAngelis Issues Statement on One-Year Anniversary of War in Middle East
Councilor Pat DeAngelis (District 2) noted that this meeting occurred on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel, which killed 1,195 Israelis and foreign nationals and the taking of 251 hostages. She stated that the ensuing war has become the deadliest war for Palestinians in the history of Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. 

Although the New York Times stated that 41,788 Palestinians have died in Gaza in the past year, DeAngelis said she believed, based on other sources, that many more have perished due to illness, starvation, lack of water, and lack of medical care. She urged residents to “acknowledge the genocidal actions of the Israeli government and to participate in the global Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement (BDS) against Israel.”