Housing GSO: HRA Greensboro Affordable Housing Plan

NEIGHBORHOOD REINVESTMENT

ESTABLISH STRATEGIC CODE COMPLIANCE | Overview

Key Partners • City of Greensboro – NDD, City Attorney • County Register of Deeds • Non-profit partners • Neighborhood associations

Greensboro’s Code Compliance Division works within NDD to improve the appearance of neighborhoods and maintain a high standard of living. The Division’s staff investigate over 11,000 properties annually to resolve and improve blighted conditions that contribute to nuisances, such as junked and abandoned motor vehicles, as well as unsafe residential, and non-residential properties. Limited staffing and the case management requirements to mitigate unsafe housing contribute to delays in compliance. Strategic code compliance supports neighborhood reinvestment goals by reducing blight, improving property values, and increasing quality of life . Strategic code compliance provides a mechanism to address neighborhood quality of life and safety concerns, while positively impacting the investments made by existing homeowners. The City should coordinate design of its receivership program and leverage other tools at its disposal to establish code compliance as a strategic tool to reduce blight and support neighborhood reinvestment. The City operates several rehabilitation programs to help homeowners and landlords with code compliance cases. It is also in the process of implementing a vacant housing receivership program, designed to move blighted properties into receivership, and have the receiver rehabilitate the property and return it to the market as new affordable housing. Greensboro should use these programs as a basis for establishing a toolkit to strategically deploy code enforcement. The City should adopt and formalize a strategic approach to Code Compliance. This will enable Code Compliance staff to better engage residents, address their complaints, and deliver real impacts with visible results at the neighborhood level.

Action Steps

1. Work with agencies, non-profit partners, and donors to establish a strategic approach to code compliance

2. Build a robust property database

3. Increase the City’s legal, financial, and outreach capacity

4. Educate and empower neighborhoods on Code Compliance processes

5. Deploy approach in candidate neighborhoods

Anticipated Costs to Implement: ~$50K Per unit rehabilitation cost for Order to Repair projects

HR&A Advisors, Inc.

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