THOUSAND OAKS : Landlord Appeals Parking Restriction

The owner of a Thousand Oaks rental property who has been prohibited from renting his house to tenants with three or more cars has appealed the parking restriction to the City Council.

Adel Barakat filed his appeal earlier this week, said Pamela Leopold, a city planning official. Barakat’s tenants include two children and six adults, four of whom have cars.

Last month, the Planning Commission, responding to complaints from neighbors about parking and traffic problems in their neighborhood, used the crowding ordinance to prohibit Barakat from renting his Calle Tulipan residence to tenants with three or more cars.

The following week, the commission granted a permit to another property owner allowing tenants at his Camino Calandria home a maximum of four cars.

In addition to Barakat, other landlords and the Conejo Valley Assn. of Realtors have complained that the city is using the crowding ordinance to discriminate against renters.

But Mayor Elois Zeanah, who spearheaded efforts to pass the ordinance, has said rental properties are held to a different standard because they are considered commercial businesses.

The crowding ordinance, approved last year, requires landlords to get a permit when renting single-family houses to four or more adults.

It also gives the city power to limit the number of vehicles allowed at rentals.

On Monday, the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission agreed to have a special code enforcement committee review the ordinance’s parking restrictions.

Zeanah, who said the parking restrictions are essential to the effectiveness of the crowding ordinance, suggested that they be reviewed by the committee, of which she is a member.

The committee is expected to take up the issue in January.