On a proposed ordinance that would introduce new regulations on rental property owners, Metro Councilwoman Tara Wicker says she’s made every change that’s been requested by the Baton Rouge Apartment Association and the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors. Nonetheless, the two groups are still opposed to the ordinance, which will go before the Metro Council Tuesday. “We have great respect for what Tara is trying to accomplish, as far as reducing the number of blighted rental properties; we just don’t think this ordinance will do it,” says Buddy Amoroso, president of the apartment association. “The problem is, the good guys will follow this, the bad guys will not, and at the end of the day nothing is going to change.” Wicker originally proposed the ordinance in September. After meeting with the apartment and Realtors associations several times since then, Wicker says, she stripped a $20 annual registration fee from the ordinance as well as mandatory annual inspections. There is now no annual fee for landlords, and inspections will only be made if complaints are made by renters. “We listened to the apartment association and the Realtors, and every change they requested, we made,” Wicker says. “Really, what it all boils down to is, they don’t think government should be regulating rental properties.” Wicker says several civic associations are backing the ordinance, as is the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority and members of the state Legislature. “I think we’re going to increase quality housing with this,” she says. The Metro Council will take up the ordinance when it meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday on the third floor of the Governmental Building, 222 St. Louis St. The finance and executive committee has made no recommendation on the ordinance. —Steve Sanoski
Today’s poll question: Do you think added regulation on landlords would improve the rental property stock in Baton Rouge?
