Dominic Anthony Walsh/Houston Public Media
Pictured is a grassy area where sewage had leaked at the Toro Place Apartments in Houston.
After repeated delays, Houston city officials expect to move forward an ordinance cracking down on unsafe and unsanitary apartment complexes over the next three months.
The proposed rules would create a registry of “high-risk rental buildings” based on repeated health and safety violations. Buildings in the registry would be subject to ongoing inspections and fines for persistent violations.
Houston City Council members Tiffany Thomas and Martha Castex-Tatum will lead two community engagement meetings in the coming weeks before moving the ordinance through their housing and economic development committees next month.
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“We want to hear from residents. We want to hear from tenants — that’s primarily what we hear the most when there are bad situations,” Castex-Tatum said, “but we also want to hear from those good operators about best practices so that we can encourage those properties that may be struggling or having difficulties on their properties, and give them some suggestions on how they can be better operators, better landlords, better owners of property.”
Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
Pictured is Houston City Council member Martha Castex-Tatum at a council meeting.
The community meetings, slated to take place in the Alief and Northside neighborhoods, will also be available via streaming:
6-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19
Alief Neighborhood Center
11903 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX 77072
6-8 p.m. Thursday, March 5
Harris County Department of Education
6300 Irvington Blvd., Houston TX 77022
When it comes to the proposed process of adding buildings to the high-risk registry, Thomas told Houston Public Media she doesn’t expect the “core of that will change.”
“The missing component is the public engagement,” Thomas added.
Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
Pictured is Houston City Council member Tiffany Thomas at a council meeting.
Thomas and Castex-Tatum said they expect the city council to take final action on the ordinance in late April.
The measure was delayed twice last year — after pushback from the Houston Apartment Association in October and again in December over concerns about a lack of public engagement.
After Mayor John Whitmire indicated city officials would “hopefully” continue to move the measure forward in January, former council member Letitia Plummer — who stepped down to run for Harris County judge after championing the ordinance for five years — was critical of the continued delay this year.
On Wednesday, Whitmire described the upcoming community engagement sessions as an “excellent, deliberative way to reach the best product” — adding that he plans to attend them.