Co-Op Housing

The ordinance imposes a limit of 12 residents in low density residential districts and 15 in all other districts. In addition, a cooperative must provide 200 square feet of living space per person, in all districts, which is the minimum required by the International Building Code. There is a provision that would allow for a higher occupancy limit in any permanently affordable cooperative, if recommended by the Planning Board after a public hearing. Finally, the ordinance requires that each applicant submit a plan showing sufficient legal sleeping areas for the number of proposed residents.

Not-for-Profit Permanently Affordable Cooperatives and Rental Cooperatives will require both a cooperative license and a rental license. Private Equity Cooperatives will only require a cooperative license, unless the cooperative has renters, which will require a rental license. For a Rental Cooperative, the cooperative organization will hold the cooperative license and the landlord will hold the rental license. For Not-for-Profit Permanently Affordable Cooperatives and Private Equity Cooperatives that have renters, the cooperative organization will hold both licenses.

Generally, the city will issue ten licenses per year. However, if there are fewer than two licenses in any of the three cooperative categories, up to two additional licenses may be issued in each of those categories for a potential total maximum of fourteen licenses issued each year.

Licenses will be renewed every four years, but a licensee will have to be re-certified and have a life/safety inspection every two years.

Cooperatives must be at least 500 feet from another cooperative as measured from the respective property lines.

Rental cooperatives cannot be located in a dwelling unit with less than 2,000 square feet of habitable space. The dwelling unit cannot have been modified within the last five years to reach 2,000 square feet.

A cooperative can be located in any zone district except agricultural, industrial or public.

Only people with an owning interest in a prospective cooperative may apply for a license, and no person under 21 years of age can own an interest.

Only a legitimate cooperative can be licensed. An outside organization will provide the prospective cooperative members with certification and training. The outside organization’s certification will be a recommendation to the City Manager who will make the final decision to authorize the cooperative. The criteria, which can be supplemented through City Manager rule, are in Section 10-11-14.

All cooperatives must submit a plan to limit on street parking to no more than three cars. Cooperatives in Neighborhood EcoPass districts are required to include in the plan that every resident who is licensed to drive will also have an EcoPass. Cooperatives in Neighborhood Permit Parking Zones are limited to three residential permits and six two-week guest permits.

There are no grandfathering provisions for existing illegal cooperatives. However, cooperatives in existence on Dec. 6, 2016 will be permitted to apply for a cooperative license while still occupying the same home. However, the existing cooperative must still be one of the first ten applications. All other applicants will need to be licensed before occupancy.

All cooperatives that include rentals will be required to comply with the rental licensing code. This will subject the cooperatives to the SmartRegs requirements as well as the requirements of the International Property Maintenance Code.

There are several enforcement provisions in the ordinance. First, the City Manager has the option of denying a license if the cooperative is determined to be illegitimate. The City Manager may also decide not to renew a license or issue a limited-term license on renewal if the cooperative fails to pass inspection or certification. Cooperatives must maintain compatibility with the neighborhood. A cooperative can be deemed incompatible if the City Manager receives multiple complaints relating to parking, noise, trash or weeds. The City Manager also has the authority to order a property vacated if the cooperative is in violation of any provision of the new chapter or of the property maintenance code. Finally, the City Manager has authority to issue notices of violations resulting in administrative penalties. The penalty schedule is $150 for the first violation, $300 for the second and $1,000 for the third. Finally, the City Manager has authority to revoke a cooperative license.

Private Equity and Not-for-Profit Permanently Affordable cooperatives are afforded a limited property right. If after licensing, the city changes land use regulations in a way that would ordinarily bring these types of cooperatives out of compliance, the affected cooperatives may continue as nonconforming uses under the conditions to which other non-conforming uses are subject. Rental cooperatives do not have this protection. This does not affect the City Manager’s ability to impose sanctions for violations, including revocation or orders to vacate.

The ordinance creates a cooperative licensing fee of $645. This fee represents $105 for basic cooperative housing licensing review and four hours of additional review time at $135 per hour. The review fee would pay the cost of reviewing the certification, the parking plan and other elements of the application that involve more than verifying life/safety components. An additional $105 rental housing licensing fee and $50 SmartRegs service fees will be charged for those cooperatives that are subject to the requirement.

The ordinance will become effective Feb. 16, 2017, with the first license applications accepted no later than July, 17, 2017.