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MINUTES OF THE HOUSING, PLANNING& DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE November 21, 2022 Auditorium Present: Councilmembers Bullock, Shachner& Kepple Also Present: Councilmembers Marx & Rader, Law Director Vargo, Planning Director Leininger, Chief of Staff Storey, Trish Rooney of Lakewood Community Services Center (LCSC), Molly Martin of Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), & Deputy Clerk Lascu taking minutes Call to order: 5:40 p.m. Approval of the minutes of the November 14, 2022 Housing, Planning & Development Committee meeting. Motion by Chair Bullock, seconded by Councilmember Kepple to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. All in favor. Motion passed. ORDINANCE 12-2021A -AN ORDINANCE to take effect immediately provided it receives the vote of at least two thirds of the members of Council, or otherwise to take effect at the earliest period allowed by law, to amend S. Ord. 12-2021, adopted March 15, 2021, to remove the sunset date of the original legislation and permanently expanding rental rights within eh City of Lakewood by allowing renters who tender their full rent plus any additional late fees and court costs,prior to an eviction hearing to avoid eviction for late payment of rent and setting reasonable late fees that a landlord may charge a tenant. (1st read and referred to HPD 11/7/22) Chair Bullock gave an overview of the ordinance. Councilmember Kepple asked if the committee received an information from Judge Neff regard it and whether court staff had provided any feedback on it. Mr. Bullock indicated that Judge Neff emailed him on November 171h stating that she and her staff take no issue with it. Councilmember Shachner inquired whether the committee had heard from any landlords on the proposed ordinance. Councilmembers commented they had received little feedback from the landlord community. Mayor George noted she had not heard from any residents as well. Ms. Kepple indicated that she had reached out to landlords when the temporary "pay to stay" measure was proposed and found that most of them try to work with their tenants if they fall behind on rent, as opposed to evicting them right away. Molly Martin of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless provided testimony on the "pay to stay" ordinance. She noted that Lakewood was the first city in Cuyahoga County to pass "pay to stay" along with 6 other cities. Some other municipalities that have made it a permanent protection for renters include Cleveland, Euclid, Cleveland Heights, and South Euclid. She stated that under Ohio law, a tenant cane be a day late on rent and be evicted, adding that her organization sees "pay to stay" as something that helps inform tenants of their rights and about