Council supports nuisance property data reporting 

To address the city’s chronic nuisance property problem, a resolution passed by Springfield City Council last night is designed to ensure systematic collection and quarterly reporting of data related to property offenses as well as top offenders. 

A resolution proposed by Councilmembers Brandon Jenson and Monica Horton received unanimous approval of the governing body after 15 speakers offered only support for the measure. 

The resolution directs the city manager to report specific data points to council at the end of each calendar quarter, beginning within three months. 

Data points to be reported include the following: 

• The number of nuisance property notices by type of nuisance. 
• The median length of time a nuisance citation has been opened until closed. 
• The number of notices by occupancy of the cited structure (renter occupied, owner occupied or vacant). 
• Identification of the 20 property owners cited the most times in the past five years and the number of times each has been cited. 

• The number of abatement orders opened and closed. 
• The number of properties condemned. 
• The number of abatement orders discontinued or delayed due to changes in property owner or to substantial process being made in correction of the nuisance. 
• Other information deemed helpful by the city manager. 

“While this is primarily a data request that will provide us with boots-on-the-ground analysis and understanding of the situation throughout our city and by council zone, the solutions that are based off this data must come from the combined experience and knowledge of the nine of us, including myself, and the continued involvement of the entire stakeholder group that I’ve managed to pull together so far,” Jenson said in his introduction to the resolution. 

He added, “Only with solid data and everyone at the table can we craft solutions through both targeted enforcement and incentive programs that raise the standard of living but do not penalize your elderly neighbor who isn’t able to get out and mow or displace the family who are truly living in housing of last resort.” 

Systemic issue 
In an interview prior to the council meeting, Jenson said the nuisance property problem has grown over the past couple of decades. 

He noted some nuisance property issues are the result of negligence, while others may be based on a business model that is built on providing substandard housing. Data will help the city to determine how best to provide tools, whether incentives or enforcement measures, to reduce the problem. 

“One of the specific data points that’s requested in the quarterly report is the top 20 nuisance properties,” he said. 

Property owners with the most citations will be identified, he noted, and the city can target those businesses or individuals appropriately. 

Jenson said some of the stakeholder organizations involved were council’s Community Involvement Committee and the Neighborhood Advisory Council, Community Partnership of the Ozarks, Springfield Tenants Unite, the Greater Springfield Apartment & Housing Association, the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, the Springfield Cchapter of the NAACP, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors. 

Support voiced for plan 
One speaker offering support for the resolution was David Trippe, president of the Phelps Grove Neighborhood Association. 

“For many years, neighborhoods have been frustrated with the lack of a policy that reacts to nuisance properties in a timely manner,” Trippe said. “City staff is aware of our frustration with the lack of enforcement of an admittedly flawed policy with no teeth. This is a crucial first step in addressing a problem that affects every neighborhood in the city.” 

Brandon Biskup, chair of the subcommittee on incentives for investment for the city’s nuisance property initiative, emphasized the social impact of the measure. 

“The fact is, we’ve got thousands of residents in our community that don’t have safe housing and for one reason or another are locked into these arrangements where they have unsafe housing and don’t have standard quality of housing to go to,” he said. “Going at this from a social aspect is imperative.” 

Andrew Doolittle, a redevelopment specialist and real estate agent, called the resolution a logical first step to solving the problem. 

“I do not believe that the market as it exists today in Springfield will take care of chronic nuisance properties on its own in the timeline that our community desires,” he said. 

Becky Volz, who helped to lead a nuisance property study group for the city and is chair of the Neighborhood Advisory Council, offered support for the measure. 

“I know that all of our neighborhoods and neighbors are very anxious and willing to do whatever we can,” she said. 

Alice Barber, a leader of Springfield Tenants Unite, also spoke in support, noting that Springfield receives an average of 3,000 nuisance reports per year, and that a Springfield housing study identified 2,000 structures in poor, deteriorated or dilapidated condition. 

“When nearly two-thirds of our homes are over 50 years old, we do need a lot of repairs,” she said. 

Some may be concerned that addressing nuisance properties will reduce the affordable housing supply, increase rent costs or increase homelessness, Barber said. 

“It’s possible to create policies with provisions that prevent retaliatory evictions, ban passing inspection fees to tenants via increased rents and fees, help displaced tenants living in dangerous conditions and condemned properties with relocation assistance and include support for low-income landlords to make repairs to their properties to help keep them available for rents at lower rates,” she said. 

Councilmember Horton noted the resolution was not drafted within a vacuum, but instead amplifies the two-year effort of the nuisance property work group in a city with a home ownership rate of only 41%. 

“Our vote would pick up the baton where our predecessors left off,” she said.