Home » Santa Clarita News » Council Takes Aim At Over-Renting Homes

Council Takes Aim At Over-Renting Homes

citycouncil_2009_0609_2

NOTE: For the Council’s storm water fee adjustment news, scroll to the lower half of this article.

 

The Santa Clarita City Council has begun a process to help stem the tide of high-occupancy homes, reacting after an outpouring of resident requests.

The Council acted on the matter by passing the first reading of a change to the Municipal and Unified Development code which addresses rooming houses in single family residential zones, defining “family” and creating a residential high occupancy permit.

The term “rooming house” was created to describe a residential unit where three or more rooms are separately rented out.

The problem came to the City after residents in the Monte Verde neighborhood, located near Best Buy in Saugus, complained that several homes are renting rooms to an abnormally high number of residents.

In fact, numerous homeowners were on hand to testify to the account, recalling tales of around-the-clock noise, crime increases and an overwhelming number of vehicles crowding streets and driveways. Some even spoke of the homes being shoddily remodeled inside to allow a higher number of occupants, often living in cramped, destitute conditions. One resident went as far as to say that she found people having intercourse on the sidewalk after a late night party.

If passed at a second reading next Council meeting, the change to City code will outlaw the existence of rooming houses in single family residential zones, effective roughly two years after the passage.

newscitymatters.jpgAdditionally, a high occupancy permit would be required for any instance in which a home is rented to more than six people over the age of 18. That permit would be contingent on set standards for parking, and the ordinance change would take effect one year from its passage.

Council members unanimously approved the code change, which was modeled after recent action taken by the city of San Diego.


In other Council news, a controversial method for calculating Stormwater Pollution Prevention fees in Santa Clarita has been altered. In an effort to bring the calculations up to date, City staff had proposed a method that would have resulted in a fee reduction for most residents; however some residents of higher acreage properties quickly complained that the methodology was unfair to them.

The fee is based on the estimated amount of impervious area on a property, like concrete or other development, which prohibits water from absorbing into the ground. While the calculation is believed to be fair to most normal sized suburban properties, it displayed a tendency to grossly overestimate the impervious area on rural residential properties, even though most of the land was open space.

In response to the outcry, City staff used recent aerial photographs to assess the amount of impervious area on each residential property over one acre, and is currently doing the same for those over ½ acre.

Matters of money also made their way to the Council chambers, as this year’s budget was proposed. Read more about that by clicking here.

Council Takes Aim At Over-Renting Homes

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220

As Santa Clarita’s only local radio station, KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, along with your favorite adult contemporary hits by artists such as Rob Thomas, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Maroon 5. We are vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community. Our broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. We stream our talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience.