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Residential maximum occupancy- Overcrowding

Re: Residential maximum occupancy- Overcrowding

I'll bring the soda and the milk duds. :D

Keep us posted.
 
Re: Residential maximum occupancy- Overcrowding

yeah, good luck with that...........glad it's not me.
 
Re: Residential maximum occupancy- Overcrowding

Most jurisdictions won't touch this anymore... too many "extended" family situations (and some lawsuits) have made city officials rethink trying to enforce.

Going way back to when I was in Florida under SBCCI, all overcrowding provisions and maximum residents were taken out of the property maintenance and zoning code.

With 16 people group home, it's an R-4, not R-3.
 
Re: Residential maximum occupancy- Overcrowding

Just finished our meeting with the property owner.

UNCOMFORTABLE :oops:

Senior citizen, 16 year resident of the U.S. Has finally managed to bring his entire family over from the old country.

Some adult children are out of work and looking for jobs. 8 children ages 6-18 are all in school.

We have asked for a response letter stating that the adult children are actively pursuing work, and hope to find alternate housing when they are employed :roll:

Happy holidays :twisted:
 
Re: Residential maximum occupancy- Overcrowding

My recommendation for you:

bulletproof%20vest.jpg
 
Re: Residential maximum occupancy- Overcrowding

My Grandmother had 16 childern. She lived in a two bedroom home with a coal burning Ben Franklin pot belly stove in the living room; and a coal burning cook stove in the kitchen. The only water was from a faucet in the back yard; and there was a two-holer out back. There was always room for company and always enough to eat.

This country is becoming the most shamefully wasteful nation in the world; and we wonder why the rest of the world hates us. There are over 6 billion men, women and children on this planet and 99.99% of them live in worse conditions than my Grandmother did over 50 years ago; and would think her home would be a luxury.

This is the kind of regulations that prevent working people from owning a home;

"(D) Minimum Floor Area in an R-1 residence district. No dwelling may be established, erected or changed so that its floor area, exclusive of basements, terraces, unenclosed porches, and garages in square feet, is less than prescribed below:

One Story 1,200

Two Story 1,400 (first floor minimum-1,000 square feet)

Tri/Bi-level 1,300 (first floor minimum-1,000 square feet)"

http://www.highland.in.gov/municipalcod ... r214r1.htm

This type of regulation is in most municipalities throughout the country.

I have an Energy Code for you that will save enough energy to last for hundreds of years;

E -1. No Single Family Residence may be constructed that is over 1,200 sq. ft.

Shame on us, one and all.

I'm tired, :(

Uncle Bob
 
i need some help

i live in reading pa and i have little to none experience when it comes to codes but here is the situation i live with 7 people at a 5 bedroom 1 bath house and a unfinished basement i know you can't live in the basement unless its finished so that was taken care of but i was told unless blood related you cannot have more than 5 people living in a house now 3 of us are cousins and 2 people are having a baby is there a way to get around this i find it hard to believe that its fine for a family of ten to squeeze into a four bedroom but 7 people in a spacious 5 bedroom is wrong i never even heard of this before we are doing this to save money and we get along just fine any help is appreciated please
 
we got ratted out by our neighbor i know we play loud music and all but the man told me from the city that we were reported for something like 16 people i laughed and told the truth and i looked it up our house is a r-3 type i guess which is saying no more than 5 unrelated people to a house im sorry but we didn't get anything official yet
 
okay we were told it would come in the mail in a few days is there any loop holes? i thought 2 people having a child counts as family this whole blood related thing is ridiculous
 
You need to read the actual wording of the code section cited. Be sure to also look at the code definition of words used in that section such as "related" or "child". An appology to the neighboor and turning down the stereo may also go a long way to resolving the issue.
 
I agree with Coud Dad, turn the stereo down, make nice with the neighbor, it could go away.

We have a local zoning ordinance that states no more than 2 unrelated people in a low density residential area. but as I said in a recent post, proving who actually "lives" there is a booger. "Move" some people out.
 
shaiman said:
okay we were told it would come in the mail in a few days is there any loop holes? i thought 2 people having a child counts as family this whole blood related thing is ridiculous
Good Luck. It is a zoning code issue. The code is available online.

http://www.readingpa.gov/documents/Zoning.pdf

I was surprised by what I found when I pulled it up. I presume you do not own the property. Seems like there are a lot of hoops her.

§27-1202. Conditions for Special Exception Uses.16. Roommate Housing Arrangements. (as defined in §27-2202, “roommate households”),

when exceeding three non-related persons living in one dwelling unit, require review

and approval by the Zoning Hearing Board as a special exception review. The applicant

must present to the hearing board:

A. A site plan and architectural plans, drawn to scale. These plans must show the

location and dimensions of off-street parking, private entrances, walkways, the

dimensions and square footage of each room and storage space and shall indicate

the intended use of each room.

B. The roommate housing arrangement must meet the standards of the City of

Reading building, housing and fire codes as required for residential rental

properties. The owner must verify to the City of Reading on an annual basis that

the building meets all of the plumbing, electrical, heating, building, fire, and

similar standards set by the City and by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

C. No cooking facilities of any kind shall be located in any room except the central

kitchen.

D. Every bedroom shall be at least 70 square feet of floor area and there shall be no

more than two occupants per bedroom.

E. No basement or cellar shall be used as a habitable bedroom except by special

approval and variance.

F. No roommate housing arrangement shall be located within 800 feet of another

roommate housing arrangement except by special approval and variance.
DWELLING UNIT - one or more rooms providing living facilities for one family or anindividual, used or intended to be used for sleeping, cooking, bathing and other day-today

residential activity.
FAMILY - one or more persons related by blood, marriage, adoption or fosterrelationship, legal custody, guardianship or written permission of a person with custody

or are the great-grandparent, great-grandchild, grandparent, grandchild, parent, child,

brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, great uncle, great aunt, great nephew, great

niece, or cousin less than to the second degree, living together as a single housekeeping

unit; or a group of not more than three unrelated persons over the age of 14 years, who

are living together in a single dwelling unit and maintaining a common household with

a single cooking facility. A roomer, boarder or lodger shall not be considered a member

of the family. Shared housing arrangements, where the individuals are permanent or

temporary “roommates,” do not constitute family arrangements. The term “family” shall

also not include the occupants of a clubhouse, hotel, motel, student home or student

housing, fraternity house, sorority house or dormitory. [Ord. 54-2008]
ROOMMATE HOUSEHOLDS - a shared housing arrangement where at least two, andno more than three persons not related by blood, marriage, adoption or foster

relationship or are not the great-grandparent, great-grandchild, grandparent, grandchild,

parent, child, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, great uncle, great aunt, great

nephew, great niece, or cousin more than to the second degree of each other live together

in a single dwelling unit and/or a single housekeeping unit on a permanent or

temporary arrangement. Any exception to this definition in number of persons in the

occupancy arrangement requires approval as a conditional use review by the Zoning

Hearing Board. Said definition or arrangement shall not include any such use that falls

within the definition of “residential care home” or “student home.” [Ord. 54-2008]
 
Im with gbhammer, Whoa nellie. That feels like a slap to the face of freedom.

Granted, Reading Pa. has some serious issues but when has it become within a councils ability to prohibit the types of parties in an SFD or any other structure?
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Scott Emanuel

314-361-3635 ext 27

scott@aclu-em.org

ACLU Challenges Denial of Housing Permit to Unmarried Couple in Black Jack, Missouri

ST. LOUIS, August 10, 2006 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri and the ACLU Women’s Rights Project filed a lawsuit today on behalf of a family that was denied a permit to live in the city of Black Jack because of a law that prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related by “blood, marriage or adoption.”

“The City of Black Jack’s behavior is both pompous and unconstitutional,” said Brenda Jones, Executive Director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “Black Jack’s attempt to criminalize people’s choice to live together as a family has earned international ridicule for Missouri.”

Fondray Loving and Olivia Shelltrack live in a 2,300-square-foot home in Black Jack, a suburb of St. Louis, with their three children. Because Loving is not the biological father of Shelltrack’s oldest child, the city has denied the family an occupancy permit for the home that they purchased. The family now faces fines of up to $500 every week for living in their home without an approved occupancy permit.

Loving and Shelltrack have lived together with Shelltrack’s oldest child, 15-year-old Alexia, for 13 years. Katarina, 10, and Fondray, Jr., 9, are the biological children of both Loving and Shelltrack.

“The government has no business saying two consenting adults cannot live with their own children,” said Tony Rothert, Legal Director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “The town rejected a proposal to change this outmoded law, so we have no choice but to go to court to protect the rights of this family.”

Emily Martin, an attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project, noted that a court in North Carolina recently struck down that state’s 201-year-old ban on cohabitation in another case brought by the ACLU. “The government is using housing laws to impose its ideas of morality on residents, but there is nothing moral about denying a home to a family,” she said.

Today’s lawsuit, Loving v. City of Black Jack, filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, challenges the ordinance as a violation of the family’s rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution, as well as family status discrimination under fair housing laws. The lawsuit names the City of Black Jack and several city officials as defendants.

Attorneys for the ACLU are Rothert, Martin and Gerald P. Greiman of the law firm Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP as cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Eastern Missouri.

The petition can be found online at

www.aclu-em.org/legal/legaldocket/currentcases/lovingvcityofblackjack.htm
 
i have given the posts a look over and the law suit does look like a final resort apologizing to the neighbor may help although to go this far in the first place its already to late the wolfs smell blood if you get my drift but your continued help is amazing thank you very much
 
The section posted above is for a Special Exception. I have not found anything so far that specifies that they are required to apply for a special exception.
 
Definition of a "Family" from the web site.

FAMILY - one or more persons related by blood, marriage, adoption or foster

relationship, legal custody, guardianship or written permission of a person with custody

or are the great-grandparent, great-grandchild, grandparent, grandchild, parent, child,

brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, great uncle, great aunt, great nephew, great

niece, or cousin less than to the second degree, living together as a single housekeeping

unit; or a group of not more than three unrelated persons over the age of 14 years, who

are living together in a single dwelling unit and maintaining a common household with

a single cooking facility. A roomer, boarder or lodger shall not be considered a member

of the family. Shared housing arrangements, where the individuals are permanent or

temporary “roommates,” do not constitute family arrangements. The term “family” shall

also not include the occupants of a clubhouse, hotel, motel, student home or student

housing, fraternity house, sorority house or dormitory. [Ord. 54-2008]
 
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