Housing and Property Maintenance

Sponsoring major revisions to the accessory apartment  section of Town Code to allow more homeowners to create accessory apartments so they can make ends meet; give homeowners the choice of which unit they want to live in; and ban all new basement apartments. The changes will help address the shortage of affordable housing in the Town and benefit both seniors and new home buyers for whom the rental income is crucial in determining whether they can buy a house or remain in one.

Authorizing actions against blighted property by continually sponsoring legislation authorizing properties designated as “blighted” to be cleaned up and brought into compliance. The Town’s "anti-blight" legislation assigns a point system to various types of blights, fines the property owner if the blight is not removed, adds a blight fee to the property’s tax bill and places the property owner on a public "blight registry" until the property is clean and code compliant.    
 
Holding landlords accountable for code violations by sponsoring legislation to ensure the safety of residents and to hold landlords accountable for potential code violations. The resolution allows the Town to take all steps necessary to rectify the hazard or nuisance at the property owner’s expense.