Bemidji City Council Tables Second Reading of Rental Ordinance Following Citizen Concerns

During last night’s city council meeting, an update to Bemidji’s decade-old rental ordinance was halted before the second reading after concerns came up during the public comment period. Uncertainties from the council also arose following the hearing due to wording and definitions within the ordinance.

A motion to approve the second reading failed in a 4-3 vote, and the ordinance saw people bring up two major topics surrounding it. The first concern that came up during the public comment period included the wording over the number of people who are allowed in a rental unit.

Currently, the ordinance allows for up to four unrelated adults in a unit, rather than being based off of a unit’s square footage according to safety codes, as some at the meeting advocated.

“This change would do two things: make more units available and reduce the cost to tenants,” said Andrew Erholtz, Vision Properties Management owner. “I understand there is a concern for parking. I would propose that the number of unrelated adults could not exceed the on-site parking available for that unit. The rental license would limit the number of unrelated adults by occupancy standards set by code and available parking.”

Another concern brought up to the council was the issue of protecting tenants from landlords who abuse their power.

“Bad landlords will often say things like, ‘Well hey, if they don’t like it, they don’t have to rent from me.’ In this community, that’s simply not true,” said Reed Olson, Beltrami County District 2 Commissioner. “When there aren’t enough housing to go around [for] everybody, we do have to rent from the landlords, we do have to rent every unit that exists.”

Olson continued, “I think we need to hold landlords to account and we need to protect our neighbors – again, the majority of our citizens. This is something that you can address in your ordinance. You have the opportunity, and I would say the obligation, to show your citizens that you care more about their safety and their dignity then you care about the profitability of the landlords.”

The second reading of the ordinance is tabled until Dec. 19 for further discussion and to see what clarifications can be made.