Port Jervis landlords grumble

Anya Tikka
Posted 8/21/12

PORT JERVIS, NY — In an effort to catch up with absent landlords who don’t keep up, or abandon, their properties and also owe the city taxes, city council is proposing a license for landlords; …

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Port Jervis landlords grumble

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PORT JERVIS, NY — In an effort to catch up with absent landlords who don’t keep up, or abandon, their properties and also owe the city taxes, city council is proposing a license for landlords; but it was met with resistance from the landlords who are present in town. Many of them stood up one by one in the recent Port Jervis common council meeting to protest something they believe would merely add more unnecessary fees and take away their rights, comparing it to government interference with Nazi techniques.

Joseph. E. Curtis said, “I’m a landlord. Port Jervis has a lot of issues, and if you pass this law, and slip in another fee for property owners and small business, we’ll have a major problem in Port Jervis.”

He also said he’ll send a letter to all his tenants that he’ll pass the fee on to them, and tell them not to vote for current council members in new elections. He said a lot more landlords and tenants would come to the next meeting.

The less government interference, the better things will be, was the general feeling among those landlords who spoke.

Husband and wife Raymond and Joanne Bowley spoke separately.

“I love Port Jervis; I’ve been here all my life. I live in Deerpark. I really don’t make a lot of money from houses, and for you to put a license on being a landlord, it becomes a privilege that you can take away. This is not Americanism,” Raymond said. He added that he remembered when Mayor Kelly Decker was a paperboy, and had the whole room, including Decker, laughing. “Sometimes I get the feeling you don’t want landlords in this town, but I’ll tell you, if you don’t have landlords, you’ll have a lot less money in this town,” he concluded.

Decker posted on Facebook on March 20 that the code committee is considering a rental law, separate from the proposed licensing bill. It proposes building/unit registration and safety inspection of all rental units in the city with nominal fees.

Decker wrote, “Of course many of our absentee landlords would more than likely not welcome this type of local law, since safety issues would arise and other violations would be pointed out that would need to be fixed. I would like to be clear here that there are many good responsible landlords that own and manage properties in our city, but unfortunately there are many that are not. Of course selective enforcement is illegal, so that is why this idea came up as a suggestion.”

In other business, the healthy effects of trails and having sidewalks came up in the meeting. Megan Tennerman and Bob Dietrich came from the Orange County Planning Office to ask for the city’s support for a “Complete Street” policy, which advocates the use of roadways for all users, including pedestrians, motorists, and bicyclists. The policy also promotes a cleaner, greener transportation system, reducing traffic congestion and the resulting air pollution.

Tennerman said, “So much of what you do here in Port Jervis feels right.Basically, your streets are complete.” According to the Orange County government website, Complete Streets measures safety, livability, technology, economy and amenities in a town. Port Jervis already has one Healthy Orange Trail with markers each quarter mile, brought in with the cooperation of Bon Secours Hospital.

Burt Thielman from Orange County Citizen’s Foundation also talked about the trails. “I’m trying to promote trail and street development,” he said. He observed that cooperation between towns is important, such as between Deerpark and Port Jervis, since they have long history and connections including the trail network.

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