2008 Woodie Awards
Orono housing ordinance to restrict number of unrelated residents moves forward
Seamus McGrath
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: News
Changes may be in store for off-campus students after Wednesday's Orono Town Council meeting. Members discussed finalizing an ordinance restricting the number of non-family residents allowed in a rental unit. If approved, the decision could impact the availability and prices of apartments in Orono.
The council reduced the maximum occupancy of a rental unit from five unrelated people to three over the summer. However, if the owner of the property has been in possession of the rental unit previous to June 18, their right as a landlord is less clear.
Restrictions for grandfathered properties will be brought to a non-binding public vote at the December public meeting. The vote will be used to determine the amount of public support the ordinance has. The final amended ordinance will be voted on by the council members on the first Monday in January - when many students will be away on winter break.
This decision came after meetings over the past week on how to deal with capping the maximum occupancy and how to regulate and enforce the code.
A new draft was presented on Nov. 5. Landholders are eligible to be grandfathered, or exempt from the new ordinance because it was not in place when they obtained the property. The town would still require the landlords to maintain and upgrade the property for items like trash removal or parking. Failure to do so could cause them to lose their right to lease a building to four or five unrelated tenants.
Some councilors said this will solve the problem, as many properties renting to extra tenants under the new regulation could continue to do so by making a few upgrades to their property.
Another option would be to set a grace period, such as five years, to allow those who owned the property to continue renting to the four or five tenants until the end of the period. Town Councilor Mark Haggerty said if landlords knew that they were about to lose their leasing options, they would be less likely to upgrade their premises to adhere to town ordinances.
The council reduced the maximum occupancy of a rental unit from five unrelated people to three over the summer. However, if the owner of the property has been in possession of the rental unit previous to June 18, their right as a landlord is less clear.
Restrictions for grandfathered properties will be brought to a non-binding public vote at the December public meeting. The vote will be used to determine the amount of public support the ordinance has. The final amended ordinance will be voted on by the council members on the first Monday in January - when many students will be away on winter break.
This decision came after meetings over the past week on how to deal with capping the maximum occupancy and how to regulate and enforce the code.
A new draft was presented on Nov. 5. Landholders are eligible to be grandfathered, or exempt from the new ordinance because it was not in place when they obtained the property. The town would still require the landlords to maintain and upgrade the property for items like trash removal or parking. Failure to do so could cause them to lose their right to lease a building to four or five unrelated tenants.
Some councilors said this will solve the problem, as many properties renting to extra tenants under the new regulation could continue to do so by making a few upgrades to their property.
Another option would be to set a grace period, such as five years, to allow those who owned the property to continue renting to the four or five tenants until the end of the period. Town Councilor Mark Haggerty said if landlords knew that they were about to lose their leasing options, they would be less likely to upgrade their premises to adhere to town ordinances.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
chad bradbury
posted 11/26/07 @ 11:37 AM EST
The students are going to be effected by higher rents if they require landlords to only have 3 people in a 4 or 5 bedroom house or apartment. Landlords still need the cash flow to cover their expenses and with the cost of oil rising daily, it becomes very difficult for everyone. (Continued…)
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