AANC Petitions NC Governor to Declare Apartment Industry Essential
The Apartment Association of North Carolina (AANC) recently petitioned North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper, to deem housing providers, their employees, including maintenance technicians, suppliers and servicers to the industry as essential in the event that a shelter-in-place mandate be executed similar to the stay at home order delared by Mecklenburg County on Thursday, March 24, 2020. The GCAA supports this request of the Governor and is hopeful for a positive resolution. Below is the full request.
Dear Governor Cooper,
The Apartment Association of North Carolina (AANC) recognizes and applauds the quick and decisive actions you and your administration have taken to curtail the rapid spread of COVID-19 in North Carolina. In an abundance of precaution some states are now calling for residents to “shelter-in-place.” In the event this order becomes necessary in North Carolina, AANC asks that you consider elements of the multifamily housing industry to be “essential” as defined by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the U.S Department of Homeland Security.
In the midst of a health crisis, management and continuity is vital in the multifamily industry to ensure the safety of tenants and their ability to live in well-maintained properties. There is a great deal of operational needs such as property management, residential construction, cleaning and restoration, as well as maintenance, that play a vital role in the execution of this.
The functionality of these roles can be performed in compliance with all Executive Orders that have been mandated thus far. It is the goal of our members to provide complete and consistent care for their residents while prioritizing the health and safety of their employees.
CISA rightfully acknowledges apartment communities as part of our nation’s critical infrastructure in their guidance intending “to support State, Local and industry partners in identifying the critical infrastructure sectors and the essential workers needed to maintain the services and functions Americans depend on daily and need to be able to operate resiliently during the COVID-19 pandemic response.” Per CISA, “Real Estate” (e.g., office and apartment buildings, condominiums, mixed use facilities, self-storage) is a subsector of the “Commercial Facilities Sector” and therefore essential. Please refer to: https://www.cisa.gov/commercial-facilitiessector for more information regarding CISA’s recommendations.
We ask that you support the efforts of the multifamily industry to provide consistent support to North Carolina tenants by deeming housing providers, their employees, including maintenance technicians, suppliers and servicers to the industry as essential in the event that a shelter-in-place mandate is necessary.
Again, thank you for your leadership and commitment to North Carolinians across the state. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our organization if we can be of any assistance during this time.
Sincerely,
Sherry Yarborough
State President,
Apartment Association of North Carolina
NC Emergency Management has a process to vet businesses TO DETERMINE IF THEY ARE ESSENTIAL BUSINESS SUPPLIERS and allow them the ability to continue operations an emergency is declared or a shelter in place order is issued should their usual operations warrant such.
Businesses should email beoc@ncdps.gov. In the email, they should provide the following:
- Business name
- Point of Contact including:
-name
-phone number
-address
- Nature of their business and why they are critical to continue operations
- Business website
Please be aware that the BEOC (Business Emergency Operations Center) is experiencing a high volume of these requests, so the response could be delayed."