Over occupancy discussion continues at Logan City Council

LOGAN— On Tuesday, Logan City Council will continue the discussion to increase fines for over occupancy violations, the second in a two-part proposal to address over occupancy code violations. The first part in the proposal was approved at the council’s last regular meeting held April 17, with a unanimous vote, despite opposition from community members and Utah State University students.

The over occupancy enforcement system, previously complaint-based, will now hire an intern for community development to regularly review each neighborhood and send request letters to homeowners as needed, asking them to comply with city code.  

Iain Laurence

Susan Paulsin, owner of several properties in the area, cited concerns that citations against ‘over-occupied’ housing would put more stress on the already difficult housing market.

The second part of the plan proposes increased fines for over occupancy from $50 to $250. Daines said in this policy change, citations would be issued to all occupants and/or possibly the landlord, depending on the situation. Occupants have ten days to comply, after which they would then be charged $100 a day up to $1000 if compliance is not met. This section was not already voted on by the council because increasing the fine requires a separate code amendment.

Currently, the city’s standard rule for over occupancy is that no more than three unrelated people can live in one house or apartment. If the area is under campus residential zoning, the limit is set to six.

Those who voiced opposition of stricter over occupancy enforcement discussed shortage of affordable housing for students and renters, while those who argued in favor cited noise, parking and unkept yards and exteriors as neighborhood issues in Logan.

Iain Laurence

Skyler Smith, a landlord in Logan, objects to the increase of enforcement against tenants and landlords who live in a house with more than three unrelated tenants

At the council’s public hearing for the issue, held at its last meeting, USU student Skyler Smith objected to stricter enforcement of the occupancy limits, saying Logan is already suffering from a shortage of affordable housing for renters.

“This targets renters and profiles them as sloppy, loud and disrespectful,” Smith said. “So many of these young renters give Logan the character and charm it has been known for.”

Daines responded saying the purpose of the intern is not to punish renters, but to examine standards of both renters and homeowners, such as “junk in the yard, weeds and peeling paint.”

Smith said, “Four individuals can keep the house maintained well. We shouldn’t root out these people that are not causing problems and complying with everything else.”

“Everything except the law,” said council member Jeannie Simmonds.

Brayden O’Brien, junior at USU and the 2017-18 director of Utah State’s Government Relations Council, also objected to the rule on over occupancy.

Iain Laurence

Brayden O’Brien encouraged the city council to vote ‘No’ on the housing policy, stating that most students who are violators of this policy are responsible residents of their neighborhoods, and many of the houses can very reasonably hold more than three students.

O’Brien stated that while he recognizes that the issue of over occupancy is complex, it’s also an issue that disproportionately impacts students.

“We shouldn’t be proactively enforcing rules that I think shouldn’t exist in the first place,” O’Brien said. “Students have stake in this issue and there are thousands of us here.”

Logan citizen Susan Paulsin spoke both in the beginning of the meeting and in the public hearing to oppose multiple aspects of the neighborhood improvement plan, including over occupancy enforcement and acquirement of funds to remodel old homes in Logan.

“Help the mayor by challenging her,” Paulsin said.

Logan citizen and homeowner Sarah Baker expressed support for Mayor Daines’ plan.

Baker said, “It’s important to notice the comments here have been from people who are renting and don’t own. As someone who owns, I’m in favor of the plan.”

Logan citizen Jeff Hoath also expressed approval for the plan, addressing parking as an issue in Logan. Hoath said as more people live in one home, there is less space to park all of their cars, exacerbating parking problems. Hoath added that Logan’s policies regarding parking on the street during winter months have not been consistently enforced in the past.

Council member Herm Olsen acknowledged that there are many students living in Logan who behave and don’t cause problems in off campus neighborhoods. However Olsen said the problems with “noise, parties and too many vehicles” caused by a minority of students are a concern for Logan’s neighborhood councils. Olsen said these problems are often connected to over occupancy.

Iain Laurence

Councilman Herm Olsen, in response to the objections about the housing policies, spoke about the many complaints the city councilors have received from neighborhood councils regarding their houses with lots of occupants, usually students.

USU Student Advocate VP Sam Jackson said he wasn’t surprised when the city voted to go forward with the plan.

“City council is doing its best to protect property values in Logan,” Jackson said.

But it’s coming at the expense of the livelihood of students, he said. Jackson said it’s “frustrating” to see the council make an effort to push students toward high density housing when, he said, students don’t want to live in “luxury apartments.”

“They want to live in small houses like myself and many of my friends do, pay a decent rent and just live their lives,” Jackson said.

In a later interview with Olsen, he expressed an interest in talking to more students about the plan, saying, “I would love to join with the USU student council to wrestle through these issues and come up with good, healthy solutions. As I mentioned last night, what is before us isn’t perfect.”

–naomiyokoward@aggiemail.usu.edu

@naomiyokoward