By the Associated Press
January 1, 2006

MANASSAS, Va. -- Manassas has passed a new zoning ordinance that restricts who can live together in a household, a measure that overwhelmingly affects the city's growing Latino population and is coming under harsh criticism by civil-liberties advocates.

Under the ordinance, the City Council narrowed the definition of "family" to mean that extended families can't live in a home. The former definition allowed virtually any relatives to live in a single-family house, as long as the total didn't exceed the occupancy limit.

The city acted within its right to control residential occupancy and the new rule was adopted in response to "broad-based community concerns about overcrowding," city officials said in a statement. "The suggestion that changes in the zoning ordinance reflect any other intent on the part of City government are absolutely false."

Although the city says the measure, passed Dec. 5, was aimed narrowly at dealing with overcrowded housing, Vice Mayor Harry "Hal" Parrish said earlier this month that the law also was aimed at addressing illegal immigration and the problems the city associates with it--including parking, garbage issues and tight school budgets.

"I know there's frustration out in the community from the people we talk to, our citizens, and largely they believe, as do I, that the federal government hasn't followed through with enforcing its (immigration) laws ...," he said.

The new definition restricts households to immediate relatives, plus one unrelated person, and excludes aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and other members of the extended family.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia said that it is "strongly inclined" to challenge the ordinance and is examining its legal vulnerabilities, which, some legal experts say, are many.

"It's hard to describe how many parts of the U.S. Constitution this law actually violates . . . " said Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University. "It interferes with constitutional guarantees regarding contracts (to rent rooms), families, equal protection, even First Amendment issues like freedom of association. ... It's hard to believe any attorney actually reviewed this law."

Legal experts say the ordinance might be challenged under the Fair Housing Act on the grounds that it disproportionately affects Latinos. Whether a challenger would have to show an intent to discriminate is a question the courts haven't settled.

Generally speaking, though, the main problem is that it may violate 14th Amendment protections regarding "family" as described in a 1977 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a similar law. In that case, a woman who lived with two grandsons successfully challenged a ordinance in East Cleveland, Ohio.

"Ours is by no means a tradition limited to respect for the bonds uniting the members of the nuclear family," Justice Lewis Powell wrote in the majority opinion. "The tradition of uncles, aunts, cousins, and especially grandparents sharing a household along with parents and children has roots equally venerable and equally deserving of constitutional recognition."

City Attorney Bob Bendall was out of the office on Friday and didn't return a telephone message left at his office.

Council member Judith Hays, however, said it's possible the city went too far.

"I admit we're legislators," she said, "part-time legislators. We do the best we can, and if we made a mistake with this, we will reconsider."

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