DANA POINT : Overcrowding Law Challenge Denied

A Superior Court judge Tuesday denied a Dana Point man’s attempt to block enforcement of the city’s new housing overcrowding law.

Judge Robert Jameson refused to issue a preliminary injunction sought by Robert Slapin, who has sued the city over the law’s passage in January. The law is scheduled to take effect Monday.

After lengthy public testimony and outcry from residents, particularly those in the Lantern Village area of the city, the council unanimously adopted the housing occupancy ordinance on Jan. 28. The law limits the number of occupants of any city residence based on its square footage and number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

Slapin, an attorney and apartment owner in Dana Point, said the city should not have adopted the ordinance because state laws on housing occupancy take precedence over local ordinances. The state law is less restrictive than the one adopted recently by the city.

“Local authorities have no right to pass a law like this,” Slapin said, adding that the only time cities can write their own housing occupancy ordinances is by showing that there is a special demographic or geographic need.