Town-Gown Committee discusses occupancy issues

By Frank Ruggiero

Occupancy violations and noisy college students topped the agenda of last week’s Town-Gown Committee meeting.

Area residents voiced their concerns on the matter at the Jan. 29 meeting of the committee, established to improve university-community relations and the quality of community life in and around the Appalachian State campus and town of Boone.

Committee chairwoman Kendal McDevitt addressed a panel of community members and town officials, asking their biggest concerns for area neighborhoods.

Resident Janice Koppenhaver replied that violating zoning and occupancy requirements is a concern among her neighborhood, and suggested rental property owners sometimes ignore the regulations to fit as many tenants in a house as possible.

ASU Police Chief Gunther Doerr asked if this problem was geographical due to her neighborhood’s proximity to the university or something prevalent throughout town, and Koppenhaver said it was both.

Resident Greg Simmons asked if Koppenhaver was experiencing only an enforcement issue, rather than a problem with current regulations, to which she replied it was both. Simmons said people’s experience with the zoning and occupancy regulations is that regulations tend to work, except when issues go unreported.

“Unless someone picks up the phone and says there are seven unrelated people living in this house in an R-1 (single-family residential) zone, how is anyone going to know there’s an enforcement issue?” Simmons asked. “Sometimes residents just don’t make the call.”

Resident Chris Rider said that beyond the zoning issue lays an issue of attitude and behavior. “What we’ve found in our neighborhood is crime, drug use, illegal operation of motor vehicles while impaired, the speeding, the larceny and things like that are occurring in our neighborhood are almost always related to the zoning violations,” he said.

Rider said there always seems to be a connection between that aforementioned illegal activity and tenants enrolled at Appalachian State. He said enforcement is difficult when violators curb their illegal activity and hide at the first sign of a patrol car.

“It’s very hard to get law enforcement to see the same side of this behavior we see on a routine basis, and it has destroyed a lot of the confidence people used to have in R-1 neighborhoods, the fact that your children could go outside and play,” he said.

Christy Turner, planner with Boone Development Services, said she’s been working on zoning and occupancy for eight and a half years. While ASU is a valued member of the community, she said, “Violations have increased, and I don’t know if … it’s a lack of housing that’s available, but I think that has a lot to do with it.”

Turner said that oftentimes real estate agents don’t tell students and parents that the planned occupancy violates zoning regulations.

“A lot of times they do know, and they lie, but a lot of times they don’t know,” Turner said, mentioning that she has worked with students who have suffered the consequences of such lies, namely being kicked out of their rental property with no place else to live in town, “and they were basically faced with having to drop out of school.”

Realtor Bob de Camara said providing such information is part of Realtors’ responsibility. If negligence in disclosing occupancy information is intentional or accidental, de Camara suggested having a town representative speak at a meeting of Realtors about clarifying and communicating to buyers what restrictions come with certain properties.

He said housing properties within walking distance to campus, as well as those within a two-mile radius, are very popular. “These are the properties that are going to be bought and sold and have the most effect on the neighborhoods,” he said.

“Ironically, there are the properties that are also more affordable housing stock, and they’re going more toward rental,” Boone Town Council member Lynne Mason said.

She said zoning succeeds in keeping low density in single-family homes and that Realtors and parents who are considering purchasing property for student occupancy should be aware that it doesn’t necessarily make economic sense to buy single-family homes for such intent.

Renting or purchasing a multi-family residential unit that allows five unrelated residents or less to live there makes more economic sense than buying a single-family home for two or less unrelated residents, she said.
Resident Patricia Quinn asked if the university could incorporate into student orientation a segment on living in a residential neighborhood, before they even consider renting property.

de Camara asked if there was a similar mechanism for educating parents, as well, and council member Rennie Brantz said the university does offer a parent orientation. Brantz also noted that students contribute significantly for the town’s benefit through service projects and other means.

“I do think there are a lot of opportunities for education (for) Realtors, the students, the communities,” he said. “We neighbors sometimes maybe miss the boat. There have been some good things with university students … Not always, because sometimes there are those that will not abide by any regulations. I think there are opportunities here – protection and perhaps more stringent enforcement, but I know you’re doing the best you can.”

Brantz said his most pressing occupancy concern is safety, such as adequate fire escapes in crowded houses that have been divided into student apartments.

Mason agreed that students can benefit neighborhoods, as some even embrace the neighborhood style of life, though behavioral problems tend to develop when more and more people live in one house, eventually causing the house to stick out of harmony with its neighbors.

Regarding noise complaints, Boone Police Lt. Tom Redmond told how the town council recently amended the noise ordinance to allow officers to actively address noise issues without having first received a complaint. Previously, the ordinance was more complaint driven, he said.

“Now, if we see a large gathering … we can get out and try to nip it in the bud, try to stop it before it escalates to something that’s a real problem,” Redmond said.

Noise citations also have more teeth under the revision. Upon receiving a warning citation, Redmond said, offenders are notified a subsequent offense could cost a minimum of $100, with a $500 maximum.

“I believe the deterrent has made a difference,” he said. “Our noise complaints are down.”

Dan Meyer, president of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, asked if property owners are cited, as well. “It seems to me the owner should receive one, too,” he said.

Redmond said if offenders receive a citation and fine, the patrol captain will mail a letter to property owners, informing them of the tenants’ violation and fine, and that a subsequent violation will result in a citation for the property owner, as well.

If there is a clause in the lease that prohibits large parties or gatherings, there would not be penalization for property owners should the violation stem from such an event.

“We’re in an environment where ASU is going to continue to grow, and there’s an argument for positives of growth,” de Camara said. “As a businessman in this community, I’m certainly dependent upon that. Growth has to be done by the university with respect for the community.”

The Town-Gown Committee will next meet Feb. 26 at 12:30 p.m. at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center.