A university neighborhood association recently has focused its attention to the problem of overcrowding in off-campus student apartments. Support for their cause, though, has fallen short due to an understaffed city citations department.

A 1991 city ordinance states that no more than five unrelated people can live in a single-sized house. The ordinance applies to the entire city of Syracuse and excludes houses built to accommodate more than one group of people.

According to the 2000 census, though, about 15 percent of the single-family houses in the university area have more than five unrelated people living in them.

The South East University Neighborhood Association hopes to decrease that percentage by reporting potential violations and encouraging landlords to check up on their properties, said former president Harry Lewis, who lives on Lancaster Avenue.

‘We’re trying to get better living conditions for SU students so they can get a better education and enjoy their stay at the university,’ Lewis said.

Initially, the neighborhood association thought the best way to tackle the overcrowding problem was to encourage landlords to keep up with their certifications. Every five years, a landlord has to reapply for a ‘Certificate of Suitability’ to the city of Syracuse, said Charles Ladd, the city’s zoning administrator. The application requires floor plans of the building and basic information, such as the number of occupants.

The application also states that the renewal process might include a building inspection that would reveal if, in fact, the house was over-occupied according to its city-mandated capacity.

Such an application, though, doesn’t ask for the number of residents, only the number of bedrooms. That allows landlords to convert extra rooms into bedrooms to house more than five students.

Senior Cindy Krenek, a broadcast journalism and political science major, lives with six other women, who each pay $365 a month for rent to their landlord, Syracuse University professor David Sutherland.

‘There is definitely enough room for all of us here,’ she said.

Each of the seven girls has her own room in either one of the five upstairs bedrooms or the converted study and dining rooms downstairs.

Because the house has enough room, Krenek says she thinks the law is unnecessary. She is concerned, though, about landlords who take advantage of students who are unfamiliar with the city’s rule.

‘My landlord never told us about (the ordinance),’ she said. ‘I didn’t even know about it until after I signed the lease.’

Sutherland declined comment.

Landlords aren’t the only ones responsible for such violations. Lewis pointed out that students could take in friends without telling their landlord.

Regardless of who causes the overcrowding, code inspectors could find a house in violation if they followed up the Certificate of Suitability renewal with an inspection.

Peter Williams, a university-area landlord, said that code enforcement officials haven’t inspected his properties since he bought them 13 years ago.

While the lack of inspections don’t bother him, Williams says it could disadvantage residents who live next to messy residents who violate codes.

‘They’re probably busy fighting fires (because) the neighbors are complaining of more cars are parked outside a house than are authorized,’ he said.

Lewis, though, says complaints are one of the only ways to motivate code enforcers.

‘The whole system of Syracuse is built on a system of complaints,’ Lewis said. ‘(The citations officers) aren’t going to do a thing until someone complains.’

Jim Blakeman, the director of code enforcement, says his staff is ‘always busy.’ His department follows up on every permit issued in the city while still following up on neighborhood complaints.

‘We’re up there every day, but (checking on over-occupancy) isn’t all we do,’ Blakeman said.

Blakeman says three officers monitor the university and its surrounding area each day. But Lewis says their presence isn’t strong enough.

‘The code enforcers are understaffed,’ Lewis said. ‘There are just not enough people to follow through on inspections.’

Lewis said he hopes the university’s new hotline will help the code enforcers more efficiently respond to complaints about properties in the university area.

Over winter break, the university established a hotline, 442-CARE, that students and residents can call to report their off-campus concerns.

‘The hotline idea stemmed from the work of East Neighborhood Task Force working group, which found that it has been difficult for both neighbors and students to determine who to call and when to call if a concern arises,’ said Laura Madelone, director of Off-Campus Student Services, in an e-mail. ‘The committee … suggested that OCSS work with the Office of Government and Community Relations to streamline the communication process, making it easier for SU’s neighbors to contact SU, as well as ensuring a more efficient SU response.’

Additionally, the Off-Campus Student Services office began a new filing system which tracks student complaints about their landlords. During rental season, students are able to access each landlord’s file to see if the person has a bad record with previous tenants.

In light of the overcrowding problem, the students, the landlords and the city code enforcers have a hand in obeying the city’s 14-year old ordinance. And Lewis stressed that SEUNA’s efforts are ultimately trying to help students.

‘We’re trying to emphasize that if we didn’t like students, we wouldn’t be here,’ Lewis said.

Published on February 25, 2005 at 12:00 pm