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2023 08 24 WS Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN August 24, 2023 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday, August 24, 2023, at 5:48 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, located at 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance: Laura Alvarado Council Member Sarah Graham Council Member Kenrick Griffith Council Member Heather Betancourth Council Member Jacob Powell Council Member Mike Lester Mayor Pro Tern Brandon Capetillo Mayor Jason Reynolds City Manager Scott Lemond City Attorney Shannon Bennett Acting City Clerk Mayor Capetillo convened the August 24, 2023, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5:48 P.M., and with all members present. 1. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mayor Capetillo announced no citizen had signed up to speak. 2. DISCUSSIONS a. Discussion Regarding the Vacant Building Ordinance and Related Strategies. Planning and Development Director Martin Scribner opened the item and facilitated the discussion on the Vacant Building Ordinance. He introduced Planning and Development Assistant Director RJ Davidson who gave a brief history on the ordinance. Mr. Davidson conveyed the ordinance had been unenforceable, so Staff started looking at that again. They surveyed other cities in Texas and found that those cities had trouble enforcing this as well. Staff took a deeper dive to figure out the purpose of their ordinance and realized that they already had mechanisms in place to achieve that. POINT OF THE MATTER EXISTING SOLUTIONS 1. Attracted a Criminal Element 1. Police Enforcement 2. Fire Hazard 2. Fire Marshal's Office Enforcement 3. Degraded Community Aesthetics 3. Code Enforcement 4. Endangered the Public 4. Health Department Enforcement 5. Required Attention/Rehabilitation 5. Incentive Programs 6. Became Nuisances 6. Substandard Building Enforcement City Council Regular Work Session Minutes August 24,2023 Page 2 of 3 Planning and Development Assistant Director Ryan Hvitlok proceeded to discuss their policy is- sues and roadblocks with vacant buildings. The factors impeding progress were listed as follows: 1. Political Climate—previous Administrations had apprehensions to pursue enforcement. 2. Legal System—due process was long and cumbersome to deal with these properties. 3. State Preemption — Staff was still currently trying to figure out what House Bill (HB) 2127 meant for the City and what the State would allow them to do. 4. Utility Availability—the City had issues with utility/water availability downtown. As Mr. Davidson mentioned, Mr. Hvitlok relayed they already had solutions available. Staff addi- tionally recommended for Council to look at repealing Chapter 18 —Article 15 of the City Code. He explained that would remove the regulations that were impractical to enforce. Council Member Alvarado questioned matters concerning unresponsive property owners. Mr. Hvitlok replied that was a perfect illustration of Staffs issues with the due process and that topic was further discussed. Council Member Graham questioned how or who decided which vacant buildings were addressed. Mr. Scribner explained owners largely made that decision for them, but that it was ultimately complaint-driven.Regardless of that fact,he noted there was a situation that happened often where a complaint was made and the property was sold in the middle of their process. Thus, Staff had to start over from scratch when they were months in the process and it looked like nothing was done. Mayor Capetillo summarized that he understood there were tools in place,but that Staff needed to be unhandcuffed in order to proceed. Mr. Scribner answered, in certain circumstances, yes. How- ever, City Manager Jason Reynolds wished for Council to be aware that the things already there still had their own roadblocks. On a separate note, Staff discussed matters concerning surplus properties before returning to the discussion on the Vacant Building Ordinance. To conclude their presentation, Mr. Hvitlok presented their Infill Development Strategy which would address the City's vacant buildings. The strategy was presented as follows: 1. Marketing and Outreach • Establish communication strategy to promote the benefits of infill development; • Identify potential development partners and key stakeholders; and • Market available infill and redevelopment properties. 2. Regulatory Improvements • Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) Overhaul should offer relief and alter- natives that plague current development environment; and • Identify potential improvements to internal processes. 3. Administration Oversight • Identify goals and measures of progress; • Regular reporting, monitoring, and evaluation; and • Enhance coordination of efforts for planning of infrastructure and improvement projects. With that concluding the presentation, Council Member Betancourth questioned if they had given any consideration on increasing Staff or resources to fully address these buildings, or to outsource it. She also inquired if they had come up with a method for prioritization that was not subjective City Council Regular Work Session Minutes August 24,2023 Page 3 of 3 to what Staff thought. Mr. Scribner discussed how outsourcing and increasing Staff was not the answer as there would still be bottlenecks in the process that would make this a bigger issues. In terms of prioritizing, Mr. Scribner gave details of their current process that included multiple de- partments. Essentially, anything with major safety issues would jump to the top of their list. Council Member Betancourth further clarified that she was concerned about personal feelings or politics influencing Staff's decision making. She did not have confidence in such a subjective process. Nevertheless, she understood that Staff was not sure how to make that more objective. Yet,if there was a way, she would like that.Upon further discussion,Mr. Reynolds reinforced that Staff was asking what Council was expecting from the ordinance. He wondered what other ques- tions did Council have that Staff was not addressing so they could meet their expectations. To the City Manager's question, Mayor Capetillo replied that it may take some thought for them to build a response. Mr. Scribner offered the following options for Council: 1. Leave what was there in place; 2. Rewrite the ordinance and Staff come back to Council with something different; or 3. Repeal the ordinance altogether. Staff recommended Council repeal the ordinance so they could work on their current process. Council Member Graham agreed with Council Member Betancourth and suggested there be a tiered system, rubric, or form. Mr. Reynolds inquired if there was a consensus on the objective of the form so that could be built in to their policy or ordinance change. Mayor Capetillo conveyed they all agreed with making the process as objective as possible. Council Member Powell added that he agreed with getting rid of any ordinance that was difficult to enforce.A few other comments were provided that aligned with the consensus of Council before the meeting adjourned. 3. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the August 24, 2023, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:30 P.M. (LI s'rfNi �j a,isaao,n �ti , Angela Ja kson, City Cle,rk City of Baytown y a r op � Y L' n '