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Officials favor zoning enforcer


Allison Brophy Champion
Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 26, 2006


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Redefining family as a way to prevent overcrowding in single-family homes? Town leaders don’t want to go there.

Hiring an enforcement officer to pro-actively crack down on zoning infractions? Town leaders are considering it.

At a meeting Monday night, the three-member Town Council planning committee reached a consensus that the town should not change its definition of family to exclude extended family members from living together in a single-family home.

At the same time, the committee unanimously recommended that the town hire a part-time zoning enforcer to monitor residential zoning violations including: too tall grass and weeds, inoperable motor vehicles in the yard or on the street, excessive garbage and if warranted, too many unrelated people living together.

The town, in its zoning ordinance, defines family as people related by blood, marriage, adoption or guardianship, including servants and caregivers. The local law also allows for two boarders or up to five unrelated people in a single-family home.

“It’s my recommendation to leave the definition as is,” said Town Councilman Jim Risner, a member of the planning committee. “I think what we have is more than adequate.”

Councilman Steve Jenkins, who does not serve on the planning committee, isn’t so sure. He’s led a push since he took office in July to redefine “family” as it relates to overcrowding. If Jenkins had his way, extended family members like aunts, uncles and cousins would not be permitted to house together.

Previous efforts
The city of Manassas recently tried to do the same - amending its definition of family - but ended up completely reversing the action just weeks later after being constitutionally challenged by fair housing groups and the ACLU. Lawsuits against the city of Manassas by groups and/or residents who felt the action unfairly targeted and discriminated against Hispanics are still ongoing.

Culpeper Town Attorney Bob Bendall is also the attorney for Manassas, and knows the legal implications of government redefining family all too well. Apparently, he’s not recommending Culpeper take that route to curb residential overcrowding.

“After the town attorney gave us the information clarifying some of the concerns, I don’t know what other steps we can take or where to go from here,” said Councilwoman Emma Richards at Monday’s meeting of Bendall’s closed session advice.

Added Councilman Chris Snider, the third member of the planning committee, “The Supreme Court is telling us we can’t split up a family.”

He also felt that five unrelated people, as allowed by the town zoning ordinance, was “limiting enough,” but needed to be enforced.

Since July 17, the town has received 14 complaints of “too many people in household,” compared to eight complaints the first half of the year. Risner, who was absent from the two meetings at which Bendall advised council on the subject, felt the recent rise in complaints was directly tied to recent publicity on the matter.

“I don’t think there’s any other action we need to take,” he said. “The system works; we just need to make the citizens aware of what the rules are.”

How does the process work?
Currently, Zoning Administrator Maxie Brown responds to complaints of overcrowding or unsightly yards within four to five days, she said, at which point she will visit the house and make an inspection. Brown will then send a certified letter to the property owner, letting them know they had received a complaint and informing them who can reside in a house as a family, she said.

The property owner is asked to respond to the complaint in seven days, she said, and they usually do, meeting with her in the town office.

“Sometimes there has been a language barrier, but we are able to work through it,” Brown said. “Most times, they know they are over the limit and will take corrective action.”

“Numerous complaints” of up to 10 people living together in one house have come in, she added, but the residents are all related.

“Most times, they are happy to tell me what their relationship is, and there’s nothing we can do unless we change the ordinance,” Brown said.

That’s not what the committee wanted to do Monday, but they did favor ordinance enforcement.

“A lot of the issues are quality of life,” Risner said of unsightly yards. He recommended that the zoning enforcer, once hired, focus equally on all such issues.

“I don’t want to advocate someone peeking into windows to see how many people are living there,” Snider said.

Still, the committee endorsed a more pro-active approach to residential zoning infractions versus the current, complaint-based policy of enforcement. Changing the policy would have consequences, pointed out Town Manager Brannon Godfrey.

“You will get more violations,” he said of a zoning enforcer looking for infractions. “It will change the way we interact with citizens once we’re out observing.”

Risner reiterated his stance that actively enforcing residential ordinances and educating the public would improve the quality of life for everyone.

“People talking to their neighbors and bring the community back together rather than this divide we’ve seen,” he said of recent community meetings dealing with immigration.

Hiring a zoning enforcer is the “less-invasive” way to address residential overcrowding, Snider added.

“Let’s not define what a family is or split up families,” he said. “This is looking at simple things already on the books that will help address larger issues.”

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or abrophy@starexponent.com.