A proposed ordinance that would limit any house converted into an apartment complex to three unrelated people as tenants was tabled at the Muncie City Council meeting Monday night and referred to the land and traffic committee for further discussion.
The unanimous decision to table the ordinance to amend the minimum housing standards code came after nearly a half hour discussion started by Mayor Dan Canan.
Canan said the city needed to put an end to the trash and parking problems in areas where Ball State students rent. He said houses divided into apartments often do not have enough parking. As a result, students park in no parking zones and lawns.
Local landlord Gary Greenlee disapproved of the "three unrelated law."
"To somebody like me who relies on that income it hurts," he said. Greenlee said more rental restrictions will lead to more landlords selling out and more rental buildings being boarded up. He says that landlords were not considered in the drafting of the ordinance.
Apparently, the ordinance does not consider students, either. In addition, the ordinance does not appear to concern lower economic income sections of town, either.
As a reminder, this is the same Mayor Canan who, in his State of the City address, announced a goal to unify Muncie and Ball State University, as if they were two separate constituencies. Now, by changing the rules, targeting areas surrounding campus as problem areas and inconveniencing both landlords and students, Canan is only working to appease the prior constituency.
"Ball State helps define our community," Canan said in his State of the City address in February. "Muncie needs to partner with Ball State as they look to attract students and faculty. I pledge that city government will do its job in improving the community so that when a person selects Ball State, they are also selecting Muncie."
Unless Canan has changed his goal, he has targeted a portion of the city that does not need immediate improvement as badly as others across the river. Our mayor would better serve Muncie by picking on another, more troubled neighborhood.
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