Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article stated that Henderson City Council member Lynn Harper had characterized Council concerns as “unanimous”. The Council did, in fact, vote to unanimously support SB 1507 so as not to cut the Certificate of Occupancy ordinance process off. Home in Henderson apologizes for the error and has amended the text.
Members of the Henderson City Council will visit members of the NC Assembly in Raleigh today as part of an effort to express unanimous Council concerns over HB 1011, also SB 1507.
The bill, as it currently reads, would amend the state’s minimum housing and inspection statutes to require probable cause before cities can inspect for unsafe, unsanitary, or hazardous conditions in residential and non-residential buildings in most cases.
The trip is being led by Henderson City Council member Lynn Harper.
Members plan to meet with Rep. Margaret Highsmith Dickson who chairs the NC House Commerce Committee. Meetings have also been scheduled with other members of Henderson’s legislative delegation.
In the past, Harper successfully lobbied NC Sen. Doug Berger to include a provision in SB 1507 that would allow for inspections in “blighted” or “potentially blighted” areas.
In previous Henderson City Council meetings, members of the Council have expressed apprehension at the possibility that the grandfather clause which allows municipalities to enforce their code via inspections without probable cause would be removed by the NC House during the legislative “crossover” process. The grandfather clause in the bill is relevant to those municipalities that have minimum housing codes or amendments to their codes on the books by October 1, 2007.