ALLENTOWN, Pa — An Allentown renter is facing eviction after a city board, one not often seen, shot down her appeal Thursday.
Four members of the city's Disruptive Conduct Board of Appeals met Thursday evening to hear a request from a renter in the 700 block of West Turner Street.
The woman was appealing a disruptive-conduct report she was given in July after police were called to her apartment for a noise complaint. That report was her third since July 2023.
“It's just that we don't have very many (renters) that appeal."Vicky Kistler, Disruptive Conduct Board of Appeals chair
She pleaded with the board to show leniency so she wouldn't be forced out of her apartment, but members unanimously denied her appeal.
Renters who get three disruptive-conduct reports within 12 months must move out or be evicted by the property's owner, according to city ordinances.
The Disruptive Conduct Board of Appeals is composed of Community and Economic Development Director Kistler, Public Works Director Mark Shahda, City Councilwoman Candida Affa and Police Chief Charles Roca.
Police Captain Kyle Pammer stood in for Roca during Thursday’s meeting.
Board's first meeting in nine years
The board was established to address quality-of-life issues, such as loud music and public disturbances, caused by renters, according to Vicky Kistler, who leads the board because she's Allentown's director of community and economic development.
Though the board has been around for years, Thursday's meeting is the only one shown on the city's calendar that shows almost all public meetings since 2015.
Kistler and the board’s solicitor did not know exactly when the board launched.
The board meets only when renters appeal after getting a disruptive-conduct report, Kistler said.
“It's just that we don't have very many [renters] that appeal,” Kistler said.
The Disruptive Conduct Board of Appeals is similar to the city’s Nuisance Abatement Board of Appeals, though that body pertains to commercial properties instead of rental units.
That board last met in 2017, according to the city’s calendar.
