Eureka Springs’ building inspector says code violations in some of the short-term and longterm rentals he has inspected in his short time with the city are some of the worst he has seen in his career.
Speaking during a Eureka Springs City Council meeting held Monday, April 24, in the basement of The Auditorium, inspector Jacob Coburn urged council members to draft an ordinance setting standards for annual inspections of the short-term and long-term properties in Eureka Springs.
“I’ve been in the building trades for a very long time … I’ve seen a lot of things, but nothing so extreme than what I’ve seen in these homes,” Coburn said. “They’ve been unattended for a grossly large amount of time without any kind of resolution to solve these problems.
“Now, what I’ve come across too, in addition to this, is the renters who are renting these properties are in fear of saying anything to the homeowners, in fear of retaliation to evict them from their properties. The majority of people fear that they will be evicted if they complain about it.
“There’s no ordinances in place for the city. There’s no laws that protect them for this, and nobody’s doing anything about it. So, I felt compelled to try to help them in trying to solve this issue by creating an ordinance to assist the renters in this town, which are the backbone of Eureka Springs. These are people that work in our restaurants and our grocery stores and our gas stations. These people have a right to live in a safe home where they’re not in worry of their home blowing up or their home catching fire, causing more fires to spread.”
The topic of creating an ordinance regarding inspections was first raised by council member David Avanzino, but was largely deferred until Monday’s meeting because of Coburn being out of town.
At the meeting, Coburn provided the council a collection of photos showing examples of code violations at various properties he has inspected.
“A lot of what I’ve found are in desperate need, dire need of some renovations and repairs,” Coburn said. “A majority of my code enforcement calls I get from residents in Eureka Springs are ‘we have faulty wiring in our residence, we have no insulation, we have mold, we have large groups of vegetation all throughout a property that’s not being attended to.’ It goes on and on. Exposed electrical wiring inside the homes, water heaters that are installed by unlicensed professionals.”
Coburn said he has crawled under many homes in the city that have electrical wiring tethered together with duct tape or electrical tape.
“Out of code compliance and a major electrical fire hazard,” he said.
Coburn presented council members a series of standards for those rental properties including smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and, in some instances, sprinkler systems. New construction already has standards that must be met, he said.
“I don’t need to remind you guys that our town has burned down three separate times,” Coburn said. “We’ve had two rental property inspections in the last six months that have caught fire. It’s imperative that we take action. The worst thing to do is to do nothing about the situation.
“I’m a strong advocate that we need to do something about this and I think it needs to be taken seriously.”
Council members commended Coburn for his report and agreed that standards need to be put into effect.
“We are just asking for a minimum standard for protection of life and health and safety,” Avanzino said. “We’re not asking anyone to go above and beyond on any kind of inspection.”
Council member Terry McClung suggested a workshop, where members of the public could attend and be involved in the process.
“Primarily those who own these types of properties,” McClung said. “I think it’s fair that they are involved in the process so we can listen to them and inform exactly what it is we want to do for the ordinance if we decide to do one, and it looks like that’s kind of the leaning that everybody’s got at this table.”
Mayor Butch Berry agreed, saying he would like the city fire marshal, the state fire marshal and other public service officials at the workshop to answer questions. He said he would research a date that would be convenient for everyone.
“As soon as we get the people put together, because we want code enforcement and building inspectors and other people to come up here,” Berry said. “I think that would be the best way to get the information out … that would help the public.”
PET STORE RESOLUTION
The council was unanimous in all of its votes at Monday’s meeting, including approving a resolution drafted by city attorney Forrest Jacobi stating Eureka Springs’ opposition to retail pet stores’ selling of animals.
“The state allows puppy mills, which are abhorrent,” Jacobi said. “We can prevent them in Eureka Springs because we have this jurisdiction. But we don’t have jurisdiction outside of Eureka.”
The resolution states that the city is “opposed to retail pet stores, whereas millions of adoptable pets die annually in shelters, whereas there’s simply no reason for animals to be bred, sold for pet shop trade when adopted pets from shelters are readily available.”
The idea of a resolution was raised by council member Melissa Greene in response to a recently passed bill in the Arkansas Legislature that forbids cities from stopping the sale of animals in pet stores.
“I’m really happy with it,” Greene said of the resolution. “And the Humane Society thanks us for doing this.”
OTHER ACTION
The council also approved a resolution setting a public hearing for 6 p.m. Monday, May 22 at The Auditorium regarding a property owner wanting to vacate a section of Inman Street between Block 12 and Block 13 lots.
“They’re wanting to vacate this section and use that for parking,” Berry said.
Other approvals included the OK of the first quarter 2023 financial summary, and the removal of the words “Jake Brake” from Ordinance 1797. Compression release engine braking is illegal in the city.
“It was pointed out to me recently by the Municipal League that ‘Jake Brake’ is a patented word in our ordinance and we cannot use it,” Berry said. “
The ordinance will be amended to say that the use of “engine brakes” will not be permitted in city limits.
The council suspended the rules, read the ordinance by title only a second and third time and enacted the emergency clause to make the change immediate.
“If we issued someone a ticket and they weren’t using the ‘Jake Brake,’ we’d probably lose,” Berry said.
The council also suspended the rules, approved a second and third reading and enacted the emergency clause to permit Charissa Litherland, a member of the city’s Parks Commission and Christine Santimore, a member of the city’s Historic District Commission, to work for the city as part-time ushers at The Aud. That position pays $25 an hour, according to Jacobi.
“The Municipal League says we need to do this and it eliminates any question of impropriety of someone working for a commission, then working for the city,” Jacobi said. “If it was somebody from the CAPC wanting to work for the CAPC at The Auditorium, I would say no.”
The council deferred a resolution for the Hospital Commission to waive the bidding process in purchasing a new financial and operating system for Eureka Springs Hospital, with no member of the commission present to answer questions.
During council comments, Avanzino reported that the CAPC hiring committee interviewed three candidates last week for its director position. He said he anticipated a final vote to hire a new director at the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 26.
