County officials have taken additional steps toward cracking down on overcrowding in single-family homes.
The joint Finance and Public Safety Committees voted last week to recommend hiring two additional inspectors at a cost of $149,415, and adopting sections of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code to limit the number of occupants in a house. They suggested the board approve these actions in September.
Terrance Wharton, director of Building and Development, said one inspector would serve as a supervisor after receiving the training and authority to implement the portion of the state building code that targets overcrowding. The budget includes cars for both inspectors.
Wharton also had suggested hiring an administrative assistant, but he was willing to see if his staff could handle the work without adding another position. "If I need it, I'll come back," he said.
THE BOARD HELD a public hearing this month on the proposal to adopt sections of the code to strengthen overcrowding enforcement. County residents complained that overcrowding is ruining neighborhoods. Investors are turning houses into apartments and squeezing multiple families in single townhouses and condominiums.
The measure models one passed several years ago in Herndon. That community has been looking to toughen its current regulation, which provides a numerical formula to calculate how many adults can legally occupy a residential home.
Wharton said Volume I of the state building code has jurisdiction over new construction, while Volume II, which covers unsafe structures, overcrowding and other problems, is optional. A county must adopt all or portions of Volume II for it to be enforceable locally, he said. Loudoun already has adopted the segment dealing with unsafe structures and would be adding the overcrowding section, he said.
The committee discussed enforcement problems dealing with public and private street parking and lawn parking. Members also talked about approaching overcrowding by establishing more Home Owner's Associations or other associations and using Memorandums of Understanding with the Sheriff's Department.
Bruce Tulloch, vice chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said the county, thanks to the prior board, has stringent ordinances to address the problem, but associations must sign memorandums. "I encourage HOAs to sign MOUs and uphold the ordinances approved by the last board," he said.
Tulloch, former president of a HOA, said the county has parking problems even when there is one family living in a single-family home. "You have six, nine, 10 cars per home. The situation gets worse, worse and worse," he said. "We have an overcrowding issue. It is going to be taxpayer funded."
WHARTON EXPRESSED optimism. "My hope is when we go out … that we'll get two or three cases, prosecute them fully and the problem is going to go away."
Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) agreed. "If we have a couple of successful cases, the investment is in saving the entire county from this tragedy," he said.
Supervisor Sally Kurtz (D-Catoctin) said she is concerned about the high number of people living in homes with only one toilet.
Investigator Keith Fairfax said a Northern Virginia legislator introduced legislation that would require a certain ratio of toilets to the occupants of a house, but it failed. "It goes back to what Mr. Wharton said, 'This is Virginia and the home is your castle."
Loudoun would adopt a code that would regulate the square footage required for sleeping quarters and other rooms. The county currently has a zoning ordinance that prohibits four or more unrelated adults living in a single-family home. The proposed code requires a living room of at least 120 square feet for a home with three to five adults, and 150 square feet for six or more adults. Similar restrictions are set for dining rooms. The code requires every bedroom occupied by one person to be at least 70 square feet. It also prohibits the use of kitchens and uninhabitable spaces for sleeping purposes.