Gerard Mildner’s Post

I got into this story through a student whose roof had been leaking.   The water destroyed a laptop, and the student worried her ceiling might collapse on her.   But when she called Athens code enforcement, they didn’t seem to do much — even though city code requires rental roofs to be watertight.   So what’s going on?   Well, it turns out there are 2 factors at play.   Factor 1: the city code.   The code says roofs should “not have defects which might admit rain.”   And rentals have to follow code.   But if the roof isn’t actively leaking, the landlord has no other obligations.   Herein lies the problem.   Some roof features — for example, skylights — make leaks drastically more likely.   But as long the landlord patches the leak when it happens, they don’t have to do anything more substantive — e.g. getting rid of the skylight.   As a homeowner, you might want to make that more permanent fix to prevent your house from deteriorating.   But for certain landlords, that may not be such a big concern.   And that brings us to…   Factor 2: the housing shortage.   Athens is a college town, and the rental market is very tight.   Less responsible landlords know they’ll always have tenants, even if their units have problems.   That said, tenants can compel landlords to at least fix some issues — but only if they know about rent escrow, which most undergraduate students don’t (I know I sure didn’t).   Find out more in our latest installment in The Housing Squeeze for WOUB Public Media and Report for America: https://lnkd.in/eUPWtABB   #rent #housing #buildingcode #rentals #localjournalism

Want to help guide the city's street renovation plan? Apply to the Transportation Trust Fund 7 Committee online at www.cityofcape.org/streets by Monday, May 13. Once appointed by the mayor, this committee will start meeting in June, and ultimately develop a plan for the City Council to consider for the April 2025 ballot. The 2025 TTF7 plan will focus more on the repair of current streets, rather than the construction of new streets. The committee will gather and review street condition data and community input. The TTF7 committee will include city staff, Planning & Zoning Commission members, and an expanded number of positions for at-large members of the community to ensure that citizens from every ward in the city are represented. The Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) is a half-cent sales tax that has been renewed by Cape voters every five years since it was first approved in 1995. TTF projects are funded on a "pay-as-you-go" basis so that no money is borrowed to fund large-scale street projects.  See all current, recent, and upcoming street projects and apply at cityofcape.org/streets

Ventura County has had “No Growth” and “Slow Growth” initiatives for decades. On top of NIMBYism, we have SOAR (Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources). >>As a lifelong Ventura County resident, I have mixed emotions about this.<< If brokers can make it in Ventura County, they can thrive in the gravy areas. Now, gravy areas in CA, like the Inland Empire, are starting to feel the NIMBY pinch. “And in California, the issue has extended beyond Bloomington. On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill placing new restrictions on warehouse development. The law, which takes effect at the start of 2026, includes standards seeking to better protect the health of nearby residents, including rules about where warehouses can be built and construction materials. The bill also requires that developers replace each unit of housing destroyed for a logistics project with two new units of affordable housing. Developers will also have to provide displaced tenants with 12 months of rent.” #cre

Can Indy be next, please? Through revisions to “Floor Area Ratio” (FAR) req’s on infill sites with 1/2 mile of a transit lines, Sacramento opened up the playbook for by-right multi-unit housing types. City of Indianapolis - Department of Metropolitan Development - are we next? #InfillHousing #missingmiddle

Let's give power to the market! As suggested, it's time to allow the market to decide how much parking is needed instead of relying on outdated zoning ordinances that increase development costs and pollution runoff. Let's embrace a more modern and flexible approach to parking regulations that can better serve our communities. This should be non-partisan. #parkingregulations #planning #zoning

⚡ Illinois is a national leader when it comes to ensuring new condominium and apartment buildings can meet the growing demand for EV charging, and in the process help the state achieve its ambitious climate goals. Read more on the SWTCH blog. #illinois #electricvehicles #evcharging #infrastructure #multifamily #apartment #condominium #managedcharging #buildingcode

❗️Burnt Store Area Developing❗️ This article gives us mild info on 3 developments being developed along Burnt Store Road. I've summarized the article and pulled some key points from it so that it's easier for you guys to read. Let me know your thoughts and opinions. Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Official, Shaun Cullinan, announced the approval of 10,500 units for new developments. He expressed that the area will transform from barren fields and former agricultural lands into a well-landscaped, developed region. The widening of Burnt Store Road was justified as part of a long-term plan, which requires a sufficient tax base to support it. To improve safety and manage traffic, the county approved the installation of three traffic signals outside Coral Lakes, Turnleaf, and Starling developments. The plan also addresses traffic, environmental issues, water, and sewer systems, with the county prepared to complete the building process. Highlights: ᭼Approval of 10,500 Units: A significant development plan for a large number of new residential units. ᭼Transformation of Landscape: Transition from barren fields and agricultural lands to well-landscaped, developed areas. ᭼Widening of Burnt Store Road: Justified by the need for a tax base to support the infrastructure improvement. ᭼Traffic Signal Installation: Approval of three traffic signals to be placed outside major developments for safety and traffic calming. ᭼Safety and Traffic Management: Measures to address speeding and maintain roadway capacity, including stoplights and roundabouts. ᭼Comprehensive Development Plan: Addressing traffic, environmental issues, water, and sewer systems, with readiness for the building phase. Steven Crawford - Southwest FL Realtor License #: #SL3496093 Century 21 Aztec & Associates 941-286-5716 https://lnkd.in/eyKHsjFC

Chasing Potholes: How Chasing Problems Eats Your Budget and Doesn't Improve Roads The Midwest is a tough place to be a road. Winter's cold and freeze/thaw cycles combine with Summer's heat and rain to create an inhospitable pavement environment. And that's what Milwaukee is dealing with. But the weather isn't the only factor that causes potholes. Milwaukee's pothole problems are caused as much by policy as by the weather. You see, Milwaukee appears to be taking a reactive approach to pavement preservation rather than a proactive approach. The article below describes the City's growing pothole problem. The problems seem to be threefold: 1) Potholes are forming faster than crews can fix them. 2) It's difficult for Milwaukee to keep their team fully staffed. 3) Patching potholes is a bare minimum solution to try and keep a bad road drivable – it does nothing to fix the cause of the potholes. It's important to note that Milwaukee's challenges aren't unique. If you're a city official, you probably have infrastructure challenges and need more money to address them. It's almost universal. So, what should Milwaukee be doing differently? They need to quit chasing their bad roads and focus on taking care of their good roads. They can't ignore their pothole problem. They will always have to address safety and functionality concerns. But by spending more of their budget to maintain their good roads, they will: 1) They will extend the life of their good roads-This will buy them more time to address their roads in moderate to poor condition. 2) They'll free up some budget-It will take a few years to implement a best-first approach, but Milwaukee will find that by taking care of its good roads first, it will reach a point where it can use more of its budget to replace the streets that are in the worst shape. 3) They'll be able to address more roads-Generally, the earlier you perform asphalt maintenance, the cheaper it is. Filling potholes is expensive. Investing in preservation treatments to prevent potholes allows you to put treatments on more roads, improving your entire network. Will this change be easy? No. Milwaukee will continue to receive complaints about roads that need repair. But if they switch from a worst-first to a best-first approach, they can take the time to educate the residents about their plan. All of Milwaukee's roads will eventually have to be replaced. But, if they shift their strategy and focus on extending the life of their roads when it's the cheapest to do, they'll build a more robust, efficient, and cost-effective pavement preservation plan. The ROI on this strategy will also deliver significant savings to Milwaukee's taxpayers. If your City is interested in implementing a best-first approach, message me and check out Holbrook Asphalt Company to learn more. #potholes #assetmanagement #pavementpreservation #roads #streets https://lnkd.in/gKpPD_fP

Cities from coast to coast are tossing out the rules for how many off-street parking spaces are needed for apartments and businesses, as NPR’s Laurel Wamsley reports. In addition to parking structures being expensive to build and prone to trapping heat, they also create sprawl and make neighborhoods make less walkable, experts say. In removing parking minimums, cities hope to end up with better public transit, more affordable housing, and walkable neighborhoods. So far, more than 50 cities and towns have thrown out their parking minimums — from Austin and San Jose, to Gainesville, Fla. and Anchorage, Alaska. But it hasn’t been without criticism. Read more here:

While removing minimums is only part of the solution (funding alternatives to car travel is not mentioned in the article), it's good to see that cities are beginning to re-prioritize people over cars.