Armed with red T-shirts expressing distaste for “”mini-dorms”” and signs proclaiming “”Stop Global Dorming,”” San Diego residents gathered at a student-housing forum on May 10 to express their concerns and hear about the recent progress in the fight against what many see as troublesome rental properties.
San Diego residents gathered last week at an open forum sponsored by city councilmembers to address the growing problems posed by “”mini-dorms.””
Hosted by City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, City Attorney Michael Aguirre and City Councilman Jim Madaffer, the meeting presented a panel of university and city officials to discuss student-housing issues both on and off campus. The forum included a presentation of proposed updates to the Land Development Code expected to limit the conversion of single-family residences into nuisance rental properties that have been dubbed “”mini-dorms.””
The growing number of these properties near college campuses since the 1980s has spurred sweeping action from the city council and Aguirre in recent months.
“”I’ve already told those predators out there that we are coming,”” Aguirre said.
City Councilman Jim Madaffer, a leading supporter of banning the residences, wears an anti-mini-dorms T-shirt during the forum.
In the first move of the proposed three-part solution, the city attorney’s office has acted to define mini-dorms by drafting an ordinance labeling them as “”rooming houses.”” The Rooming House Ordinance utilizes precedents from other cities in California such as Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo to define a rooming house in the city’s municipal code.
A draft of the ordinance defines a rooming house as “”a dwelling unit where three or more bedrooms are rented, or are otherwise furnished for compensation, under separate rental agreements or leases, either written or oral.”” The ordinance also states that property owners or rental managers need not live in the residence, a common feature among mini-dorm rental properties.
The second part of the city’s approach involves reforming how property owners remodel. Amendments to the Land Development Code that will be proposed at the next Land Use and Housing Committee meeting include limiting the number of bedrooms in a single-family residential unit to six and requiring that no more than 60 percent of the property’s front yard be paved for use by up to four vehicles. Homes may also be required to provide more off-street and garage parking on the property.
Representatives from San Diego State University, UCSD and the University of San Diego were also present at the forum. Several community speakers voiced their belief that the mini-dorm problem stems from students who are economically shortchanged and are unable to find affordable housing on or near campus. Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life Gary R. Ratcliff spoke on UCSD’s behalf to respond to citywide concerns that the campus was not providing adequate housing for its students.
“”I think it’s very critical for students to live on campus for their first year,”” Ratcliff said.
UCSD’s future development plans include additional housing for the university’s expected population increase in the coming years.
“”We want more on-campus housing for our undergraduates and are in the process of making that a reality to reach our long-range planning goal of housing 50 percent of UCSD students on campus,”” said Cynthia Davalos, a special assistant to Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Joesph W. Watson, in an e-mail.
According to Ratcliff, UCSD has 9,000 beds for undergraduates and graduate students and a student population of approximately 26,000. Though roughly 1,500 beds have been added in the past five years, the university plans to add even more.
“”To meet student demand for campus housing, the university is investing $400 million over the next five years to construct new apartments and residence halls that will add another 3,300 beds to campus,”” Ratcliff said in an e-mail. “”This includes campus housing for transfer students and additional campus housing for graduate students.””
At SDSU, relieving overcrowding in single-family residential areas has faced a major setback after the halting of the Paseo Project. Set to begin construction in January 2006, the project was supposed to give up to 1,400 students a place to live and bring 1,000 jobs and venues to revitalize the area’s economy.
Internal disputes put the project on hold for an undetermined period of time, forcing many students to rent out homes.
In contrast to SDSU, Davalos said that UCSD receives few complaints from community members, most likely because most students wish to reside near campus, according to Ratcliff.
“”Most of the properties for rent near campus are apartments, condos and town homes,”” Ratcliff said. “”Plus, there isn’t a lot of financial incentive for property owners near campus to convert their homes into mini-dorms. They can sell or rent their property as is without converting it.””
Any complaints that do arise are handled by Commuter Student Services and Student Legal Services. SDSU has recently implemented a system where off-campus arrests can be registered on a student’s academic record. UCSD also has officers that are allowed to arrest students off campus, but off-campus arrests do not impact a student’s academic record.
The third part of the city’s proposed solution is to address nuisance violations and code enforcement. The police department has recently been allowed to give out administrative citations of up to $1,000. Captain Guy Swanger from the Mid-City Police Department said the new citation makes the tenants and property owners involved and accountable for the situation. Since the pilot program began on April 30, there has already been one house that has had each of its five residents fined $1,000 for excessively loud parties.
However, Swanger said this is by no means the final solution in dealing with nuisance and code violators.
“”This is only one tool, but it is not the tool,”” he said.
The city council is expected to consider all of the proposed amendments on July 9 during the next Land Use and Housing Committee meeting.
