![Old](images/statusicon/post_old.gif)
01-11-2010, 07:52 AM
|
![Ayatollahgondola's Avatar](image.php?s=c8fc984d0f5385146b654571c05284bf&u=5&dateline=1426555547) |
SOS Associate
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 3,057
|
|
Oceanside Takes Aim At Illegals With Housing Ordinance
This is the way to do it!
I never thought that highly of Joe Turner's initiative because it seemed doomed to failure over the immigration portion. This is just the same kind of law, but doing it the right way. The local way, without infecting it with immigration issue at the local level that ends up getting scrutinized by the feds.
Quote:
By PAUL SISSON, North County Times, 1/09/10
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.
|
|