Following a meeting of the San Diego City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee last month, the city approved a proposal allowing the San Diego Police Department to issue administrative citations to residents for disruptive behavior. The proposal may signify higher rent rates for students by the end of April, as landlords try to cover the fines citations could incur.

The plan will allow officers to issue on-the-spot fines of up to $1,000 to tenants and rental property owners. The new policy will be active in the college area surrounding San Diego State University for a six-month trial period beginning April 30.

“”We know there is no quick fix to the variety of challenges we face in dealing with mini-dorms, but we are trying to be creative in formulating a multipronged approach to this problem,”” San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said at a news conference last month.

Nuisance rental properties, often referred to unofficially as “”mini-dorms,”” have been a source of problems for the past few decades, according to City Councilman Jim Madaffer. Excess trash, noise and parking problems are associated with these properties, where sometimes eight to 11 tenants reside under one roof. With the majority of mini-dorms situated in his district, according to Program Manager of Neighborhood Code Compliance Sheri Carr, Madaffer has taken it upon himself to explore ways to cut back on these problematic residences.

“”This fight is about preserving the quality of life for single-family residential neighborhoods,”” Madaffer said.

Pam Hardy, director of communications for City Councilman Scott Peters, whose district includes La Jolla, said previous attempts to regulate housing have failed mainly due to constitutional issues. In the 1980s and ’90s, it was viewed as unconstitutional to regulate the number of people living in a single-family home, creating a major roadblock for attempts to decrease the number of mini-dorms now, Hardy said.

During the trial period, the pilot program will only apply to the college area around SDSU. If the trial run is deemed successful, the program could be implemented citywide.

The program’s success will be determined mainly by the change in the volume of complaints, Carr said. Receiving fewer calls and eliminating calls about a consistently problematic home will indicate success. Increased responsibility on behalf of all parties involved is also expected to raise awareness about the issue, according to Sanders.

“”The owner will have to become more involved with the enforcement process, which should reduce consistent problem properties,”” Sanders said.

Under the pilot program, the SDPD has the choice to issue an administrative citation to each resident and the property owner, regardless of whether they are present when the officer is writing the citation.

The NCC will send the recipient a notice of the fine via mail. The ticket holder will then be given 10 days to appeal or pay the fine.

SDSU is working with the NCC to hire a code compliance officer to circulate the nearby area. The university now has the ability to discipline student behavior off campus, a relatively new policy that was created after the Land Use and Housing Committee meeting at the end of last year.

“”We want to make it possible that [a problematic] rental is forced to be a good neighbor and a good citizen,”” SDSU President Stephen Weber said.

New guidelines also restrict landlords from making any garage conversions to their homes. Previously, homeowners could obtain a city permit to convert their garages into additional rooms.

While existing garage conversions are not considered illegal under the new policy, any further plans for converting garage space will not be allowed, according to Carr.

“”I would say the dominant issue is how the property is maintained and how the residents conduct themselves,”” Carr added.