Four’s a Crowd : Thousand Oaks: The City Council will consider an ordinance to regulate the number of adults in rented houses and condos. Realtors and activists oppose it.

Long the bastion of affluent upper- and middle-class families, Thousand Oaks has undergone a change that some residents fear will transform low-rent neighborhoods into blighted inner cities.

For years, homeowners have complained that multitudes of low-income families are crammed into houses, disturbing their neighbors.

Thousand Oaks responded by drafting an ordinance last year that would force landlords to get a city permit if they rent a house or condominium to four or more adults.

The proposed ordinance, scheduled for City Council review March 3, has triggered an outcry from real estate groups and housing activists who say it would unfairly restrict renters while allowing homeowners to house unlimited numbers of family members.

Two years ago the City Council appointed a committee of real estate brokers and homeowners to draft an ordinance that would help the city prosecute landlords who pack homes with dozens of renters.

Councilwoman Elois Zeanah, who headed the 12-member committee, said homeowners were upset the city had done little about litter, loitering, lack of parking, noise and increased crime associated with crowded dwellings.

“Thousand Oaks is known as a planned community, and if you don’t nip problems in the bud, you’re going to have problems out of control,” she said.

Part of the problem is that an existing city ordinance that limits home occupancy to five or more people, unless related by blood, has not been enforced since 1980, when a state Supreme Court decision invalidated a similar law in Santa Barbara.

Over the past five years, the city has investigated only 33 complaints related to overcrowding, which were said to involve only the most blatant violations of zoning laws.

In general, the city was able to prosecute landlords who illegally converted garages into living quarters or added bedrooms and kitchens, City Atty. Mark G. Sellers said. Even then, it was difficult to get them to comply.

The proposed ordinance would help the city take slumlords to court by establishing clear-cut standards for the commercial activity of renting houses, Sellers said. Families are excluded from the ordinance because in many cases no money changes hands.

In order to rent a home to four or more adults, landlords would have to provide information about available parking, bathrooms and kitchen space and personal data about their renters, a requirement that has rankled local landlord groups.

The Conejo Valley Assn. of Realtors, which sent a representative to meetings at which the ordinance was drafted, opposes the measure, said Fred Priebe, a past president of the association.

Priebe said the city ignored suggestions that the ordinance be tailored to apply only to extremely crowded dwellings.

“The complaints really seemed aimed at what would be considered a boarding house,” Priebe said. “But it would actually encompass many, many more tenants and prospective tenants which many people would consider a traditional family.”

Immigrant rights advocates and housing activists say attempts by Thousand Oaks to control occupancy could discriminate against low-income people, minorities and others trying to save money by sharing housing expenses with other families.

Tina Rasnow, an attorney who sits on the board of Channel Counties Legal Services in Oxnard, a law firm that represents the poor, said the city has failed to justify the need for the ordinance.

Officials have failed to conduct adequate studies of neighborhoods where crowding occurs, Rasnow said. And she is troubled by the ordinance’s potential for increasing homelessness.

“I believe this was racially motivated from the start,” Rasnow said. “When I read this, I see the potential right away for there to be discrimination against people based on their economic class or race.”

At Rasnow’s request, Channel Counties Legal Services will review the proposed ordinance at its board meeting today.

Nancy Nazario, an ombudswoman for the county social services agency, said she is concerned that overcrowding problems in Thousand Oaks may be exaggerated.

According to the 1990 U.S. Census figures, fewer than 1 in 10 rental houses in Thousand Oaks are overcrowded. The agency’s definition of overcrowding is more than 1.01 people per room.

In comparison, more than one-third of the rental houses in Oxnard, Fillmore and Santa Paula are overcrowded. The only city less overcrowded than Thousand Oaks is Ojai.

Nazario said the city has failed to provide enough affordable housing for its low-income residents, many of whom must live in Thousand Oaks because they work at local businesses and cannot afford to commute from less-expensive rent districts.

“I don’t think this ordinance is going to protect Thousand Oaks from social problems,” Nazario said. “People will still be forced to live in overcrowded units. They’ll just hide.”

Rodney Fernandez, executive director of the Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit group that builds low-income housing around the county, said affordable housing may not exist for those who are displaced from overcrowded residences.

“It seems to me that the citizens there might be going at it on the short-term basis, and not looking at a long-term solution,” he said. “Maybe the solution is to build more affordable housing.”

City officials have responded by saying that the ordinance would only affect about 1% of the estimated 10,000 rental units in the city.

Moreover, Zeanah said, the city is looking at ways to assist people displaced because of the ordinance.

City housing services manager Olav Hassel said Thousand Oaks has helped to build affordable housing and more is on the way.

In addition, nonprofit groups such as Many Mansions get financial assistance from the city to build and operate low-income housing, Hassel said.

The Ventura Area Housing Authority, which oversees programs for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, operates 119 public-housing dwellings in Thousand Oaks.

An additional 320 privately owned residences are available for those who qualify under a federal program, said housing authority spokeswoman Rochelle Stevens.

Stevens defended Thousand Oaks by saying that the lack of affordable housing is a countywide problem that cannot be solved by a single city. Federally subsidized housing can take years, even for the most needy, Stevens said.

“We have a waiting list right now for 3,000 people. It’s a three- to five-year wait,” she said. In the meantime, “what they do is double up and triple up. They’re doing the best they can.”

Overcrowding Around Ventura County

Ventura County’s overcrowding is centered around Fillmore, Oxnard and Santa Paula, cities which are havens for immigrant and poor Latino workers. Thousand Oaks ranks ninth among 10 cities in the county for overcrowding, a situation U.S. census officials define as more than 1.01 people per room.

City Rental Units Overcrowded % Overcrowded 1. Fillmore 1,289 459 35.6% 2. Oxnard 18,183 6,202 34.1% 3. Santa Paula 3,176 1,052 33.1% 4. Port Hueneme 3,564 686 19.2% 5. Moorpark 1,513 291 19.2% 6. Simi Valley 7,563 852 11.2% 7. Ventura 15,480 1,580 10.2% 8. Camarillo 5,039 518 10.2% 9. Thousand Oaks 9,593 932 9.7% 10. Ojai 1,277 107 8.3%

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census