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Published May 11, 2010, 12:00 AM

Duluth City Council keeps 300-foot-rule, for now

The Duluth City Council voted Monday to keep the controversial 300-foot rule, but its days of slowing rental growth in the city’s college neighborhoods appear to be numbered.

The Duluth City Council voted Monday to keep the controversial 300-foot rule, but its days of slowing rental growth in the city’s college neighborhoods appear to be numbered.

The majority of councilors who voted to keep the rule, which bans new rental licenses from being issued within 300 feet of an existing one, said they did so only as a temporary measure until the city can implement changes to the rental and zoning codes.

“I would encourage my fellow councilors to hold off on vacating the 300-foot rule,” said 2nd District Councilor Patrick Boyle, whose district includes most of the zone that the rule is in. “A compromise is in the works. … We have to have something concrete to build off of.”

The council also voted to support a city plan to reform the housing code, which would make getting a rental license more difficult. Among the changes that city staff will seek to make in the coming months:

  • Require people paying for rental licenses to pay additional fees for enforcement of the ordinance, though the amount has not been decided. This would allow for a full inspection before issuing the license.

  • Allow landlords to rent out only the number of bedrooms listed for the home by a city assessor.

  • Require landlords to prove before getting a license that enough parking spaces exist for the number of tenants in the property.

  • End the practice of issuing temporary rental licenses, which didn’t require the inspection of units.

  • Charge a conversion fee for turning single-family homes into rentals.

    The city will have to bring those changes back to the council for final approval. Chief Administrative Officer David Montgomery said he expected all of the changes to be implemented by the end of year.

    While the vote to support the city’s changes was unanimous, three councilors voted to repeal the 300-foot rule: Jeff Anderson, Todd Fedora and Jeff Anderson, each of whom said they believed the rule was doing more harm than good.

    Councilor Kerry Gauthier said he didn’t like the rule, but wanted to give the city a chance to implement its changes.

    “Don’t expect the 300-foot rule to stick around,” he said. “It’s not going to.”

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