ORANGE : City Officials Expect Housing Density Law

A crowding ordinance that would limit the number of people who can live under one roof is expected to be drafted by March, city officials said this week.

Dubbed the “housing occupancy limitation ordinance,” the law would create local standards more restrictive than those allowed under the state housing code, making it similar to a Santa Ana law now being challenged in court.

The Santa Ana ordinance, the first of its kind in the county, proposes limiting one-bedroom residences to not more than five people. In a 1990 case, an appellate court ruled that the occupancy limit is 10 people under the state code, but Santa Ana attorneys have called the state law invalid and argue that each city should be allowed to enact its own housing standards.

Orange code enforcement officials have found up to 40 people crowded into two-bedroom apartments, according to a status report released this week.

“This is a situation that is not healthy, either for the occupants or the larger community,” the report stated.

Overcrowding contributes to such problems as traffic and crime, strains city services and schools and speeds deterioration of the city, officials said.

A committee of council members, police, fire, public works and community development employees and representatives from the Orange County Apartment Owners Assn. has been formed to look into the crowding and to propose a housing standard. The panel will consider ordinances drafted by other cities and gather data on demographics and the impact such crowding has on public facilities before drafting an ordinance for Orange.

Civil rights activists have argued that crowding regulations such as Santa Ana’s would discriminate against minorities and families with low to moderate incomes.

City officials will watch the Santa Ana case closely, hoping that it will establish a “defensible standard” that will “provide guidance” to Orange, according to the report.

Earlier this month, the San Clemente City Council turned down a request by residents for a crowding ordinance. Dana Point officials are expected to consider such an ordinance in January.

Orange is the county’s sixth most crowded city, based on census figures showing that 1,277 residential units are occupied by seven or more people.