COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and City Council are taking action on house parties in the city, which could spread coronavirus.
The proposed amendment says large gatherings would result in a serious offense for tenants and landlords.
Mayor Benjamin told News19, "We recognize that there’s a unique situation that presents itself when students, tens of thousands of them, come from all across the country and all across the world to one place, the epidemiological health challenges that present itself to the community," Mayor Benjamin continues. "We’re trying to get ahead of the curve and coordinate some type of response with the universities and colleges that will help slow the spread of COVID19.”
The Rental Housing Ordinance already has a point system in place whereby 15 points from offenses can lead to a rental permit being revoked.
If this new amendment passes, house parties will count for 10 points toward the 15.
“Nothing is really going to change from what we’re already doing," says David Hatcher with the Code Enforcement Divison of the Columbia Police Department. "We already, if we get neighborhood complaints about disturbances, we’ll typically respond to those. We try to be proactive on the weekends when we know there’s a possibility of large parties and we know we’ll have a patrol officer in the area just to see if they observe anything," Hatcher continues. "But, it's mostly going to be when we get the phone call from somebody in the neighborhood complaining about a nuisance of some sort is when we’ll respond.”
“It’s meant to be a way to encourage everyone to be accountable, to do our part in promoting community health but, at the very same time, recognizing that we have to understand this is a very important time in these young adults' lives," says Mayor Benjamin. "We know a lot of them have had their senior year compromised, so we want everyone to be able to have fun and enjoy the college experience that I was able/blessed to appreciate, but at the very same time, recognize that we’re in a battle together right now. It’s important that we all step up and protect community health.”
Tuesday was the first reading of this amendment. The second and final reading of the proposed amendment of the rental housing ordinance take place at the next City Council meeting. See the proposed amendment HERE.
