City Council - Ordinance Committee

City Council Ordinance Meeting Meeting Minutes: January 27, 2022 Online via Zoom Councilor Derby called the meeting to order at 6pm. Ordinance Committee Members Present Salem Derby (Chair), Tom Peake, Lindsey Rothschild Also in Attendance Homar Gomez, City Council President Approval of Minutes: Public Speak Time: No members of the public present to speak. Continuing Business a. Ordinance Review Committee’s final report review i. Discussion of how to approach report ii. Councilor Peake will put ordinances up for revision in a spreadsheet, grouped by action needed iii. Meeting will be scheduled dedicated to going through and revising ordinances b. Vacant Storefront Ordinance i. Review of Vacant Storefront Ordinance agenda item- brought to Ordinance by the EDIC ii. Discussion around how to approach moving forward iii. Questions to explore - How to incentivize property owners to change? Why are the storefronts empty? How to approach short term vs. long term vacancies? How to address properties that are dilapidated/neglected? Are there reasons to exempt certain property owners from the ordinance? iv. Homework– research language around vacant storefront ordinances, dig deeper, look at content v. Plan - Chair Derby will invite EDIC to get their perspective and look together at sample ordinances; then schedule a meeting to get community perspective; then progress toward appropriate language for Easthampton  c. Juneteenth city ordinance amendment & resolution* (City Council public hearing 2/2/2022) d. Zoning amendment – Affordable housing in smart growth & planned residential developments. (Continued joint hearing with the Planning Board 3/8/2022) Next Meeting Feb. 17, 2022: focus on Ordinance Review Committee Report March 3, 2022: focus on Vacant Storefront Ordinance March 8, 2022: continued public hearing with the Planning Board A motion was made by Councilor Rothschild and seconded by Councilor Peake; it was unanimously voted that this meeting adjourn. Respectfully Submitted, Councilor Lindsey Rothschild Clerk to the Ordinance Committee