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City tests housing rule

City tests excessive-occupancy ordinance

BY EMILY BATTLE

Date published: 10/12/2008

BY EMILY BATTLE

Just how many people are living in the house at 418 Morningside Drive?

Warren Carman, who lives next door and tracks the license plates of the cars he sees parked at what he says is a college student party house, thinks the answer is six.

When a city police officer knocked on the door after a complaint from Carman in August, the officer reported that resident David Rodriguez told him four people were living there.

A Fredericksburg ordinance says no more than three unrelated people can live together in a single-family home.

But until city officials last week charged Rodriguez, along with roommates Daniel McLaughlin and Samuel Shaefer, with violating that ordinance by living with at least one other person at the Morningside Drive home, no one in Fredericksburg had ever been taken to court over it.

That's because it's apparently not that simple to prove where someone lives.

After city Zoning Officer Debra Ward sent a letter to the home's owner, who lives in Maryland, he called back and said his tenant had told him only three people were living in the house.

When Ward visited the house with a police officer to inspect it Sept. 5, McLaughlin told her only three men lived there, according to city records on the case.

Ward's inspection notes show that in addition to the home's three bedrooms, she saw two rooms that had couches with sleeping bags and pillows on them.

McLaughlin reportedly told her that those were for the dog.

Fifteen days later, Ward made a late-night check at the house and saw more than 10 cars parked there.

Ward said she's hoping that Rodriguez's statement to the police officer who knocked on his door on that August morning will be enough to prove that the home is violating the city's occupancy law.

Violating that ordinance is a Class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500.

These cases are some of the most aggravating to neighbors, but can be hard to gather evidence on.

Ward visits homeowners associations and neighborhood groups with a PowerPoint presentation that explains the ordinance and identifies the situations that tend to lead to violations--landlords who pack in too many tenants, families that take on boarders to keep up their mortgage payments, and students trying to save on housing costs are among them.

Enforcement of the ordinance is largely driven by neighbor complaints, and proving a case can require inspections and a good deal of detective work.

In 2007, Ward reported opening investigations into 53 alleged violations of the ordinance. Of those, eight were closed because the owner complied with the rule after being confronted, 32 were closed because the city could never get enough evidence of a violation and 13 were still pending at the end of the year.

Ward said she continues to monitor cases that she feels could yield evidence.

The case of the Morningside Drive home is scheduled for a Nov. 6 hearing.

Meanwhile, Carman is hoping there's an end in sight.

"Last year, it got so bad that the mail delivery stopped because they were parking too close to my mailbox," he said. "I don't know what else to do. I am hoping this can be resolved."

Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 10/12/2008

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