On Oct. 7, the town council voted to approve a new nuisance house bylaw updating violations and implementing a nuisance property designation and corrective action process aimed at strengthening enforcement.

The council voted 10-2 to “rescind and replace” the bylaw with Elisha Walker (at-large) and Heather Hala Lord (District 3) voting against the revisions. Counselor George Ryan (District 3) was absent for the vote.

Building Commissioner Rob Morra and Amherst Police Chief Gabriel Ting were also present to answer the counselors’ questions as enforcers of the bylaw.

This vote comes six months after the council voted to approve a new residential rental property bylaw that implemented mandatory town regulated inspections for rental properties.

Under the new bylaw, a public nuisance is defined as anything considered “An unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public, such as a condition dangerous to health, or that otherwise threatens the general welfare of a neighborhood or the Town in general.”

Nuisance violations were broadened to include breaches of zoning bylaw concerning “outdoor lighting, maintenance of vegetation and parking” as well as general bylaws regarding “obstruction of public ways and snow and ice removal, animals, junked vehicles, unlawful noise, littering and illegal dumping, refuse collection and recyclable material.”

The previous definition declared a public nuisance to be “a violation of law” or “a substantial disturbance of the quiet enjoyment of private or public property,” and did not explicitly reference general or zoning bylaw in its list of offenses.

The updated bylaw changes notification of nuisance violations so that “property owners” and “persons-in charge” are notified for each violation, although they are only held liable for the third offense.

A nuisance property designation is issued on the third violation of the bylaw in a one-year period and requires owners to submit a “Corrective Action Plan” to solve the issues resulting in the violations within a timeframe set by the bylaw.

“Within five days” of being declared a nuisance property, owners are responsible for scheduling a meeting with the “enforcing authority” to “discuss a Corrective Action Plan to address the issues at the Property.”

“Within 10 days” of being notified, owners must “submit a Corrective Action Plan to the enforcing authority, which shall indicate the ways the Owners intends to take control of the Property so that it does not accumulate more violations.”

“Within 14 days of the date of the Notice, the enforcing authority and Owner shall meet to review the Corrective Action Plan,” where the plan will either be approved or sent back for revision.

Nuisance property designations can be withdrawn “if the Property has not received a violation in the six months following the approval by the Town of the Corrective Action Plan.”

“Removal of the designation is at the discretion of the enforcing authority.”

Failing to complete any step of the corrective action process “within the required timeframes” will count as a “separate violation” with “additional penalties” according to the new changes.

During the meeting, the town council approved an amendment proposed by Cathy Schoen (District 1) to add a “Failure to Correct” clause in the bylaw adding that properties designated a nuisance “two years in a row shall be at risk of losing the rental permit as well as more frequent inspections,” as required under the Residential Rental Property bylaw.

These violations will still count against the property even if different tenants are living there year to year.

Andrew Steinburg (at-large), Mandi Jo Hanneke (at-large), Pat De Angelis (District 2) and Walker all voted against the amendment.

Hanneke explained in an email that she disagreed with the amendment, as she feels that a penalty relating to rental permits should be written into the Residential Rental Property bylaw and not exclusively in the Nuisance House bylaw. She described this as “poor legislative drafting and adoption.”

She also has concerns about punishing property owners for the actions of their tenants as their behavior is often what leads to these violations.

“A property owner can try extremely hard to lease to tenants who will be responsible with the property and be collegial with their neighbors. But, trying and succeeding can be very different, and it is not always knowable how tenants will actually live once the lease is signed.”

Hanneke says “only time will tell,” if this potential penalty will discourage owners from wanting to rent out property in Amherst as it will take some time to determine how the bylaws impact each other.

Updates to both the rental property and nuisance house bylaw were partially informed by responses to a Community Resource Committee (CRC) conducted survey that offered renters, property owners, managers and landlords an opportunity to reflect on their experiences renting in Amherst.

The survey was conducted between December 2020 and February 2023 and aimed to get feedback on the effectiveness of the former Rental Registration bylaw that issued rental permits through a system of self-certification on behalf of landlords.

Across 81 survey responses, there was an even divide between tenants who had few problems with their rental properties and felt safe in neighborhoods and those who reported issues with parking, trash and living conditions seemingly related to a lack of bylaw enforcement.

“The lack of supervision of landlords allows so many issues to slip through the cracks, no matter how persistent I am,” one respondent noted in 2022. “I lived with black mold, mouse infestations in the air ducts, cracked windows, holes in the wall to the outside, etc., and not a thing was done about it.”

Another tenant shared similar sentiments in July 2022 about repairs being overlooked as a result of landlords not being supervised, saying, “I have cracks in my shower wall that have been collecting water since I moved in, and no one will fix the problem.”

Similarly, the landlord and property owner’s responses varied between those who had a positive experience renting to students because of the steady demand for housing and those who raised concerns about maintenance and tenant reliability.

Many of the 33 responses detailed that it was a pleasure to rent to the same students every year and watch them grow and eventually graduate. One property owner noted in 2022, “I love providing a home to students who can enjoy their college experience. I love the Amherst market fueled by universities.”

However, several respondents expressed grievances with inspection fees and permits installed by the town and their constant and consistent increase.

“I find it a little ridiculous that there are yearly fees that we must pay in order to have rental property in Amherst,” one respondent said in 2022. “This directly impacts the amount of rent a property owner will charge and you will find less and less affordable apartments in the area.”

The Community Resource Committee (CRC) has no plans of reconducting the survey following the approval of both bylaws.

Hanneke, a member of the CRC, said that the survey responses indicated that the “condition of rental housing…might be worse than the counselors and staff had known,” informing the need for a better inspection system and offering insight into how the council could “better define” a nuisance property.

She also noted that there are limitations to what the council can do to fix some of the shortcomings reported in the survey.

“Staff and Counselors are always trying to improve issues with which we are aware that also fall within the scope of municipal government responsibility. Many issues mentioned, however, were outside that scope and need individual residents to take a more proactive approach to creating community,” Hanneke said.

Abigail Brown can be reached at [email protected]. Bella Astrofsky can be reached at [email protected].