Landlord appeals fee for county permit

Despite threats from their landlord, the tenants of a College Park apartment building were not forced from their homes over a dispute with the city last month.

City officials said they had notified landlord James Kane Jr. last month that he needed a county occupancy permit to have tenants in his building. Officials said Kane responded by telling his tenants to leave rather than applying for the $90 permit.

Tenants received letters from both Kane and the city last month offering conflicting information about the situation, they said.

City Public Services Director Bob Ryan said the tenants are able to stay in the 32-unit building at the corner of Calvert Road and Rhode Island Avenue pending an appeal of the city's violation notice.

The building's occupancy permit is more than three decades out of date, Ryan said. The city recently became responsible for enforcing county zoning codes.

Kane also needs to update the county occupancy permits for his three other College Park apartment buildings, Ryan said, and is due in court for not paying separate occupancy permit fees from the city.

Interviewed last week, Kane said the city - not he - had ordered his tenants out, that he had never been told he owed $90 and that he was not appealing the "so-called" violation, attributing the issue to a long-simmering conflict between College Park officials and the city's landlords.

"Mr. Ryan and a number of other people have disliked Mr. Kane for a long time," Kane said, referring to himself in the third-person. "This is just another way to put the needle in."

City officials said they do not have the authority to evict tenants, and accused Kane of risking leaving dozens of residents - including several students - homeless so he could avoid paying his $90 fee.

"That's the trouble with landlords: They have too much money, so they can afford to play this kind of game that no one in his right mind would play," said District 2 City Councilman Bob Catlin.

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