Denton residents will now have a right to air conditioning after the City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night to require air conditioning in all rental properties.
Repairs to air conditioners at rental units must also be done in a reasonable amount of time, according to a presentation by city staff.
Denton City Council members also voted 4-3 to prevent community associations 鈥� such as homeowners associations, neighborhood associations and mobile home parks 鈥� from prohibiting or restricting air-conditioning window units during the summer months, or when they鈥檙e needed for health and safety reasons.
Prohibiting or restricting window units could result in a misdemeanor charge with up to a $500 fine.
Mayor Gerard Hudspeth and District 4 council member Joe Holland cast dissenting votes on both ordinances. Holland called the ordinance preventing community associations from restricting window units confusing and said he was worried about how it would be implemented.
Though she supported the first ordinance, Place 6 council member Jill Jester didn鈥檛 support adding regulations for community associations that have rules in place against window units, which property owners agree to when they move into a community.
鈥淲e do have to respect people鈥檚 choices and property owner rights,鈥� Jester said.
District 3 council member Paul Meltzer kick-started city staff鈥檚 deep dive into Denton鈥檚 lack of air-conditioning regulations in October after reading a Sept. 7 report in the Denton Record-Chronicle about a mobile home park with a ban on window units.
It had become a public health issue for park residents who couldn鈥檛 afford or didn鈥檛 have good enough credit to get their central heat and air units installed or repaired
鈥淚t鈥檚 like I鈥檓 baking in an oven,鈥� a park resident told the newspaper.
In April, the council gave city staff direction to draft an ordinance that would require mandatory installation on air conditioners in rental properties and prevent community associations from disallowing window units.
鈥淢ost people are stunned to hear this isn鈥檛 already an ordinance,鈥� Meltzer told the Record-Chronicle in April. 鈥淚t defies common decency in a region increasingly facing multiple hundred-plus-degree days not to provide or allow for working air conditioning. It鈥檚 a matter of health and safety.鈥�
On Thursday, Meltzer called it a 鈥渟mall blow for common decency, common sense and health and safety, especially for people struggling at the margins.鈥�
Community associations, however, can restrict window units during the months when heating is necessary, provided such restrictions are clearly communicated and agreed upon in advance, according to Tuesday鈥檚 staff presentation.
The presentation also mentioned that the new regulations shall occur 鈥渘otwithstanding any provision in a Community Association鈥檚 bylaws, covenants, conditions, and restrictions.鈥�
But City Attorney Mack Reinwand had a different take on Tuesday night when Hudspeth questioned him about it and the agreement that property owners had made with their community association and wondered if the ordinances will amend the language of the agreement.
鈥淛ust to be clear, it鈥檚 not going to change the language of the agreement,鈥� Reinwand said. 鈥淏ut the [city鈥檚] regulation will effectively say that is not enforceable.鈥�
Reinwand explained that the city will enforce the ordinances through citations.
Hudspeth also wondered about the language in the ordinance that says 鈥渟afeguarding their right to use window air conditioning units.鈥�
鈥淲ho gives us a right to window air conditioning?鈥� Hudspeth questioned.
Reinwand responded, 鈥淭his ordinance is effectively what鈥檚 going to provide that.鈥�
