Our Community in Fairfax County, Virginia

A recurring issue in Westlawn and many other neighborhoods in Northern Virginia is overcrowding—single-family homes with too many people and too many cars.  In December 2007 I attended a special meeting of the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations that featured a series of guest speakers to address overcrowding issues in the county.

Statistics

According to Fairfax County zoning officials, they are able to resolve about 80% of the zoning complaints they receive within 60 days.  About 1/3 of these resolved cases end up not being a violation of county zoning ordinances, while the other 2/3 of these cases involve homeowners who voluntarily bring their home into compliance after receiving notice from the county.  That still leaves 20 out of every 100 zoning complaints where the county has to take the homeowners to court and force them to obey the law.

Zoning complaints in Fairfax County have doubled from 2006 to 2007, with over 6,000 complaints filed in 2007.  With 20% of complaints involving homeowners who refuse to voluntarily come into compliance, that means there were over 1,000 cases in 2007 where the county has to take homeowners to court, a process that often takes one to two years.

Zoning violations have no statute of limitations, and the Office of Zoning Enforcement never walks away from a case.  Fairfax County has won convictions in every zoning violation case it has taken to court.  In one recent case, a homeowner spent time in jail until the home was brought into compliance.  The county intends to be more aggressive in seeking jail time for the most egregious zoning violators.

The Worst Offenders

Some homeowners buy homes with the intent of turning them into illegal boarding houses.  They know full well that their actions are illegal and in many cases dangerous to the people renting space in their boarding houses.  These dangers include:

• Converting basements to communal sleeping areas with either no exit or no readily accessible exit other than a single stairwell, so that occupants have no escape if a fire blocks the stairwell;
• Violating building codes by installing extra kitchens in basements or other rooms without a permit, increasing the risk of fires or natural gas explosions; and
• Health risks from crowding large numbers of people into a building not equipped to handle large crowds, such as sanitary issues and spread of disease among household members.

The worst offenders will take advantage of every legal opportunity to delay coming into compliance.  The law protects those who were unaware that they had made a mistake and gives them time to fix their mistake.  Criminal boarding house owners use that time instead to delay bringing their properties into compliance as long as possible.  In these cases, the county urges patience on the part of us residents.  Just because we don't see any changes for over a year after reporting an apparent violation does not mean that the county has forgotten the complaint.

Fairfax County Enhanced Code Enforcement Strike Teams

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors started this initiative to address life safety and quality of life issues.  Its goals are:

• To protect the health and safety of our residents particularly in illegal boarding homes, illegal residential occupancies, and other occupancies in the county.
• To meet community need for protecting the integrity of neighborhoods while creating a sustainable, highly effective code enforcement system.
• To stop people or companies that are systematically violating zoning, building, and safety ordinances by operating illegal boarding houses.

Illegal boarding houses can be a safety hazard to their residents and a nuisance to their neighbors.  In one case, a fire broke out by the front door of a house with 15 people inside, and the only unlocked exit was through the fire at the front door.  The residents were able to put the fire out—they got lucky.

Problems that typically accompany overcrowded homes include trash, noise, junk vehicles, and too many cars.  Setback issues can also arise, such as unapproved home extensions that are too close to the back or side of the lot.  Second kitchens need an appropriate permit, and if one is granted, it applies only to the person who applied for the permit and does not pass to the next homeowner when the house is sold.

The county's enhanced code enforcement effort includes two five-person strike teams that bring together inspectors from zoning, public works, the health department, and the fire marshal.  Law enforcement officers (sheriff and police) and attorneys support the team's activities.  The strike teams can seek civil or criminal penalties, or both.  Investigations can be quick, but enforcement can take many months, as court cases take time.

Managing Expectations

Many perceived zoning violations do not involve homeowners with the malicious intent of breaking the law for their own financial gains.  Some are not violations at all, and in other cases, the homeowners either were unaware that what they were doing was wrong or else figured that they weren't doing anything worse than some of their neighbors (a common but dangerous mindset).  The more we all are informed about what is allowed and what isn't, the fewer mistakes we will make as homeowners and the fewer complaints we will have to file.

The Resident’s Guide to the Fairfax County Zoning Ordinance and Property Maintenance Code summarizes the most common zoning and property maintenance issues that apply to Westlawn residents.  The Department of Planning and Zoning recommends that you call 703-324-1300 or go to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/striketeam if you have any concerns about possible overcrowding in a home or other zoning enforcement issues.

At our May 1999 General Meeting, State Senator Jane Woods and Delegate Bob Hull presented highlights of the last year's legislative agenda.  They both acknowledged that Westlawn and other areas in Northern Virginia have a problem with overcrowding in single-family homes.  The only way to address this problem is for the state of Virginia to pass legislation that would give counties the authority to pose restrictions on the number of adults of any relation that could live in a home.  The restrictions would be based on the square footage of the floor area.

According to Senator Woods, the senators and delegates from areas outside of Northern Virginia are nervous about allowing any part of Virginia to pose restrictions on the number of related adults living in a house.  Most of them do not live in high-density areas like Northern Virginia, so they do not appreciate the problems of neighborhoods with single-family homes being turned into boarding houses/apartment complexes/fire hazards with many adults living in each house.  However, the Tidewater area is starting to experience this problem, too.

Senator Woods and Delegate Hull are working on legislation to put reasonable limits on the number of adults living in a single-family residence, and if reelected, they plan to introduce it at the January 2000 session.  Westlawn residents at the General Meeting expressed strong support for this measure.