Pr. William Sizes Up Crowded Housing Problem

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors stepped cautiously yesterday into the debate over crowded housing -- an issue that communities in Northern Virginia and elsewhere are tackling as people, many of them immigrants, share homes in an expensive real estate market.

The board sees a growing problem in Prince William, as residents complain increasingly about large numbers of people occupying single-family houses and about related noise and additional cars.

Yet many of the complaints appear to be without merit. Of 443 such reports in fiscal 2005 -- which ended July 1 -- more than 100 cases were unsubstantiated, according to county data.

Prince William issued only 19 violation notices for overcrowding in fiscal 2005, said Michelle Casciato, the county's neighborhood services coordinator, who reported to supervisors yesterday on how her office handles such complaints.

"We get calls. 'There are 30 people living in one house' -- the fabled 30-people home. When you go there, there aren't 30 people living there," she said.

Even though the problem may be exaggerated, Prince William officials said, they need to confront it.

Neighboring Manassas and other communities have tried to use their zoning powers to deal with overcrowded housing and other problems that they associate with the growth of immigrant populations in the suburbs.

Given zoning laws in Prince William and a trend toward large houses with many bathrooms and entrances, there are plenty of homes that can accommodate 30 residents legally, Casciato said.

"We really need to step very, very carefully. We've seen some new houses where you can easily put in 35 to 40 people legally," Casciato said.

To prove her point, she produced a floor plan for a large home with a finished basement that she said would house 30 people legally.

Board Chairman Sean T. Connaughton (R) said the county should study the issue and use its findings to lobby state legislators to pass legislation to combat overcrowding.

Of particular concern in Prince William, Connaughton said, are McMansions owned by unscrupulous absentee landlords and used in some cases as virtual boarding houses. "It has become a boom business for them," he said.

But the board steered clear of proposals that might land it in legal trouble like that faced recently by Manassas. Last month, after civil liberties groups threatened to sue, the city repealed a law that made it illegal for extended families to live together -- a law that targeted the city's growing Latino population.

Supervisor Corey A. Stewart (R-Occoquan) said Manassas officials were "misguided, but they tried to do something, and hindsight is 20/20."

He said crowded housing can affect roads, schools, sewer service and other infrastructure whose design is based on population estimates. "When we have houses being turned into apartments, that changes all the assumptions," he said.

Prince William's laws allow two boarders to live with a family, as many as three unrelated people to live together or two single parents or guardians to live with any number of children if a house has enough room, smoke detectors, bathrooms and emergency exits, Casciato said. State-licensed group homes are also legal.

When county inspectors find a large number of people living in one house, they generally have to take their word that they are related. Trying to prove otherwise can be an expensive process, Casciato said.

The lack of affordable housing is also a factor the board must consider, Casciato said. "If we get into the units and move people out, what do we do with them then?"