Allegheny County’s Board of Health has voted in support of a housing advisory committee — a move long sought by advocates, and a potential first step toward larger changes in how the department regulates rental housing.
Landlord groups oppose the move, which must be approved by Allegheny County Council before it goes into effect. But during public comments at Tuesday’s Board of Health meeting, supporters argued that the committee would help bring county housing policies in line with industry best practices. Its membership would number between 9 and 15 people, and would include those most directly impacted by housing policies, like renters and landlords.
“Our housing and community advisory program has not kept up with best practices, and we currently have no structured mechanism for community input and engaging with this important program,” said Chavaysha Chaney, a manager of advocacy and health policy at Women for a Healthy Environment
The Health Department has committees that oversee air quality and food safety; the housing committee was modeled after those bodies. It would provide input and recommendations on rules to ensure housing was safe and free from toxins.
Some advocates say the county needs to step up its regulation of housing conditions. A 2021 investigation by PublicSource and WESA examined thousands of housing-related health complaints over several years and found while some situations did resolve themselves, the Health Department verified that the fixes were made in roughly two in every five cases. The department assessed penalties for substandard conditions in just nine cases.
The committee has been in the works for more than a year, noted Kevin Quisenberry, litigation director for legal aid organization Community Justice Project.
“We think that a housing advisory committee that’s really staffed with experts, consumers and housing providers will give a permanent, structured process for interacting with the [county’s] Housing and Community Environment Program,” said Quisenberry.
He added that “getting into the weeds” and “helping [officials] figure out what are the best practices to help improve this program over time” would bring the county “up to the best practices we know are being implemented around the country.”
Committee members will be appointed by the County Executive, subject to approval by County Council.
In a statement, County Executive Sara Innamorato praised the health board’s vote.
“The creation of this committee will create a clear and permanent way for Allegheny County residents, including tenants and property owners, to work directly with the leaders of Allegheny County Health Department to ensure that everyone has access to healthy and safe homes,” she said.
“This Board of Health vote is an important step in making our Housing Advisory Committee a reality,” Housing and Community Environment Program Manager Tim Murphy said in the statement. “The Housing Advisory Committee will help to strengthen our connection to the community that we serve. … These changes will help to ensure that our program is positioned to address emerging health issues in dwellings throughout Allegheny County.”
If county council approves the committee, it would take effect next year.
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