Thread: CA. City gets ready for new occupancy limit ordinance

City gets ready for new occupancy limit ordinance

O'side residents can start filing complaints on Feb. 5

By PAUL SISSON - psisson@nctimes.com
January 8, 2010 6:05 pm

Renters and landlords are now on notice: On Feb. 5, a pair of new ordinances will take effect in Oceanside that limit the number of adults living in a single-family home.

The Oceanside City Council passed the second reading of the ordinances at its regular meeting Wednesday. David Manley, manager of the city's Neighborhood Services Department, said that city code enforcement officers will begin taking complaints that could come flooding in on the first Friday in February.

In debating and passing the ordinances, City Council members told the public that they have received an increasing number of complaints from property owners that landlords are cramming too many renters into homes designed for just one family.

That trend, council members have said, often leads to residential streets crammed with cars and a degraded quality of life for homeowners who actually live in their residences rather than renting them out.

One ordinance passed by the council requires a special "high occupancy permit" for homes where more than six adults live. The city would issue the permit only if the property's owner could prove that the property has enough space to park one car for each resident.

The second ordinance forbids owners from issuing more than two leases to renters living in a single-family home.

Both ordinances exempt group homes for disabled residents, which are allowed by federal law.

Manley said the city's Code Enforcement Department will enforce the new ordinances only if a resident files a formal complaint. He said that those who complain will need to testify that they have observed more than six adults living in a single-family residence for at least 30 days or that they have personal knowledge of more than two leases.

Some Oceanside residents, such as Lupe Gonzales, who lives in the city's "back gate" neighborhood, said last week they are more than ready to file a complaint.

Gonzales, who lives with her family in a duplex off Vandegrift Boulevard, said there is a home on her street that has roughly 17 people living inside.

"This is a single-family area, but there are cars coming and going and parking all over the place like it's an apartment complex or something," Gonzales said.

She added that she and her neighbors are worried about the effect of so many people living in a home with an electrical connection and sewer connection designed for only one family.

"We're worried about not just the adults living there, but the kids and their safety, too," she said.

Manley said the city has often received calls about overcrowding in single-family homes, but has never had a specific ordinance that allows code enforcement officers to open a case based only on too many people living in a home. He said that if a resident complains about unpermitted additions or garage conversions, code enforcement gets involved. However, if a caller has complained in the past simply about overcrowding, those calls have not turned into actionable cases.

"We just haven't had the resources to deal with that directly," Manley said.

He said he did not know what to expect when Feb. 5 arrives.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens," Manley said.

Call staff writer Paul Sisson at 760-901-4087.

http://nctimes.com/news/local/oceanside ... 06486.html

They have to do something as it is unsafe. I have heard of cases in Miami Dade County where people rented out spots on the floor where people took turns sleeping on air matresses as they worked various shifts. In this case they were Haitians. Appliance repair people, plumbers, police, fire rescue and others along those lines see it often. It is disguisting. I live in a condo and we have bylaws about that and they enforce them.

We had a home on our street that had people sleeping in vans in the driveway. We believe it was used to house recent arrivals. When they found their own place, they moved on. In the meantime, there were cars and vans all over the place. Apparently, the other folks on the street called both housing enforcement and ICE.

I hope that this will help the area.

We have a city ordinance, no more than 4 unrelated adults. Even with visits from ICE, fugitives found inside, as many as 16-18 people creep in and out and work locally.

City Councils and County Commissions have been lax in enforcing codes on overcrowding. Americans should push for more action in every state.

Psalm 91

I would love to go back to Calf, and be an observer of this. I would get 5-6 other neighbors with video cameras (38$ @ Walmart) and clip boards and work shifts watching.
Then turn in at least 10 complaints at a time.with videos to verify it.
(N-Verify) "Neighborhood- Verify"
And yes, let the a$$holes know what we're doing.

This article could describe 50% of the neighborhoods In Fresno, California. Between 4 and 8 Illegals Living In a 2 or 3 bedroom house. Every weekend 15 to 20 more Illegals come over to drink Corona's with cars lining the street. Then at 1or 2 AM they all leave and drive drunk On our public roads.... This Is the norm in MANY NEIGHBORHOODS throughout the state of Kaleefornia.... TS

Originally Posted by topsecret10

This article could describe 50% of the neighborhoods In Fresno, California. Between 4 and 8 Illegals Living In a 2 or 3 bedroom house. Every weekend 15 to 20 more Illegals come over to drink Corona's with cars lining the street. Then at 1or 2 AM they all leave and drive drunk On our public roads.... This Is the norm in MANY NEIGHBORHOODS throughout the state of Kaleefornia.... TS

Same with SanBerdo and Riverside.

Some Oceanside residents, such as Lupe Gonzales, who lives in the city's "back gate" neighborhood, said last week they are more than ready to file a complaint.

Gonzales, who lives with her family in a duplex off Vandegrift Boulevard, said there is a home on her street that has roughly 17 people living inside.

The area described above could be considered the "wrong side of the tracks" in Oceanside. We avoid it all costs. I believe this was the area of town that officer Dan Bessant was shot and killed a few years ago. The area has always been a hot bed for crime, gangs and IA's.

From:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-129415-res ... +occupancy

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008

Originally Posted by carolinamtnwoman

Here's one possible solution which I had emailed to Mayor Barletta in Hazelton and other towns attempting to enact laws to prohibit leasing to illegals:

Adopt and enforce residential occupancy limits within their fire codes since so many illegals cohabitate in single dwellings. It seems that fire codes would be difficult for the advocacy groups to challenge.

I'm glad to hear of someone using this defense to limit the number of residents.

The trouble is that the ordinance only applies to adults, but guaranteed each adult has a passel of kids. Living in a heap is no life for a child. A small village in their home country would be a lot better.