Irvine City Council Criminalizes Thousands of Students’ and Others’ Living Arrangements
On Tuesday, March 12, Irvine City Council voted 4–1 to effectively criminalize the living arrangements of thousands students and other Irvine residents by making many shared-space living arrangements subject to being designated by city ordinance to be a “boarding house” (see presentation by city staff here.) If those living under the same roof are not the “functional equivalent of a family,” the living arrangement requires the non-trivial process of getting a Conditional Use Permit, even if they are on the same lease. And, what happens to roommates and others in standard shared living situations, yet whose landlord does not have this permit? Their leases are breaking the law, the landlord can be fined, and the tenants subject to eviction.
This new ordinance would not only apply to the thousands if not tens-of-thousands of roommate situations that UC Irvine students, and others, have to arrange in order to afford living in Irvine, but also to many others, including retired house-owners who have to rent a room in order to help defray expenses, as well as university faculty who may rent a room to a visiting scholar. The Council heard from about 40 students and others who this would directly affect. However, four Councilmembers continued to see no issue, and did not move to amend the ordinance to protect these thousands of residents.
City staff and the Council have heard from many homeowners who see parking limitations and infractions, and other disturbances from homes with many residents. However, this needs to be addressed by enforcing other ordinances that protect the neighborhood, as correctly addressed by the single dissenting Councilmember on the ordinance as it is written, Melissa Fox.
This ordinance is still not passed, as this was the first of two votes it requires, therefore I urge you to contact your Councilmembers to amend the ordinance to not criminalize our students’ housing situation, as well as retired seniors and others. And, come to the second and potential final reading of the ordinance at the March 26 City Council Meeting (item 3.11), to voice your concern and objection. Our City Council must work more closely with our campus administrators, faculty and Associated Students to not pass such a drastic ordinance.
Another California city with a large UC campus regulates boarding houses differently: Berkeley defines a boarding house to be that where both “lodging and meals” are provided to “five or more persons” for compensation. That seems much more reasonable, and that reasonableness we should demand from our elected City Councilmembers and Mayor.
Contact Information:
Donald P. Wagner — Mayor
Christina L. Shea — Mayor pro tem
Melissa Fox
Farrah N. Khan
Anthony Kuo
irvinecitycouncil@cityofirvine.org
donaldwagner@cityofirvine.org
christinashea@cityofirvine.org
melissafox@cityofirvine.org
farrahkhan@cityofirvine.org
anthonykuo@cityofirvine.org
Phone number for Irvine City Council: 949.724.6233
