City of Batavia residency requirement needs a plan for those that can't move, officials say
Once again the question of residency — and of fairness — in the city of Batavia has come up as another employee has requested a waiver from the municipality’s code requiring that people in certain positions live in city bounds.
This issue has affected several police, fire, inspection, and administrative management positions over the years.
Perhaps city leaders need to consider widening the circle of that residence boundary, City Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. says.
“I mean, if the person shows up to work on time, why would we tell them where they have to live? If they’re responsible and they’ve got to drive an hour, that’s their life. That’s what they choose to do. People drive,” Jankowski said during this week’s council meeting while reviewing the latest request. “So we address it as any other employee. If they’re late for work and we gotta address it, that’s a different story. I have no problem with living wherever you want, within a reasonable distance. It’s something we should be considering, I think we are. So we need to move that forward and get it figured out.”
The dilemma this time is that city police officer Matthew Smith said that he is unable to relocate from his current home outside of the city because “given the very high interest rates and market price for housing at this time, it would be a financial burden on my wife and I to try and make a move.” His wife also received a promotion recently, which requires her to travel to other locations, and their current residence is more conducive to that, Smith said in a letter to Chief Shawn Heubusch.
Heubusch vouched for his officer’s work ethic and for being “very, very dedicated” to the job since being employed with the city police department in July of 2023. He has shown nothing but “an exemplary work history” and “is always available when called for extra details,” Heubusch said in his official request from City Manager Rachael Tabelski.
Batavia Municipal Code section 22-9 (1) requires residency for current police officers. The department has been working on a plan for how to deal with these situations, which Heubusch said have been more frequent issues as candidates have taken the civil service exam for vacancies.
“As we discussed in November, the city's department has been working on a residency plan to better meet the city's hiring needs that will be presented to council in the future,” Tabelski said.
Jankowski suggested that maybe the city could offer incentives to prospective employees to move here “instead of demanding they do based on a residency requirement.”
“Keeping in mind we just have to be a little more flexible and understanding of this,” he said.
Another whole issue, beyond the difficulty of uprooting one’s life and moving and the higher interest rates and housing costs, is that there are fewer homes available, officials said. Assistant City Manager Erik Fix said that he went online to Nothnagle Realty and found only 10 to 12 houses for sale in the city at the time.
Tabelski was optimistic about projects in the works.
“Hopefully, through all the initiatives we have in single-family housing at North Pointe Drive, we’ll be able to add some residents to the tax base and give those employees that want to be in the city a better option to be here.”
During a business meeting that followed, council approved the residency waiver for Smith.
