Mini-dorms, or houses in residential neighborhoods that have undergone expansions and are rented to large groups of students, are an ongoing issue in the College Area and have now popped up in Pacific Beach and most recently in La Jolla.
Over the past few months, residents from the College Area began raising concerns to City Council President Scott Peters and Mayor Jerry Sanders about crowded houses and irresponsible landlords.
In light of the recent controversy over a planned nine-bedroom home expansion on Chalcedony Street in Pacific Beach to make room for college-student rentals, Sanders announced April 12 that he would seek an update to the city code by June to nearly eliminate the possibility of mini-dorms.
But many La Jolla residents are still concerned about what’s happening in their community, according to Via Carolina resident Michael Brau.
“Scott Peters’ and the mayor’s offices have been as helpful as can be in recognizing that this is an issue,” Brau said. “But what they have to realize is that this is not an issue that is just at State University and in Pacific Beach but that it’s a citywide issue and it’s even happening in La Jolla.”
The excessive noise, trash, congested traffic and lack of parking in their once-quiet neighborhoods is affecting residents’ quality of life, according to Brau, whose backyard is adjacent to an Avenida Maãana house occupied by about a half-dozen male San Diego State University (SDSU) students.
Brau has not faced any noise issues, but parking has become a nuisance, and traffic along his street and surrounding roads has increased, he said.
In the same neighborhood, Muirlands Vista Way resident Betsy Klene has experienced broader impacts from a mini-dorm located three doors down the street.
Problems began when the house was rented last fall to a group of eight to ten male SDSU students, who hold frequent parties, take up many of the available on-street parking spaces and leave alcohol containers and litter on the front lawn, according to Klene and another neighbor who wished to remain anonymous.
“I have no animosity for these boys “” they seem like nice kids,” Klene said. “It’s the landlords who are at fault. With ten boys crammed in there all the time, our quiet street has turned into a nightmare.”
Although there currently are no city ordinances preventing large numbers of tenants or expansions to residential area homes, there is still a way for residents to preserve their quiet neighborhoods, according to Lt. Brian Ahearn of the San Diego Police Department’s Northern Division.
The Community Assisted Party Program, or CAPP, allows police to sanction a house if officers have responded to noise complaints twice in a 24-hour period or within one month, Ahearn said.
At that point, officers can begin a fiscal recovery system, allowing them to bill landlords for services provided by the police department while responding to noise and other code compliance complaints.
If the partying does not stop, neighboring residents can also nominate the home for the nuisance abatement program, which can allow the city to file suit against a landlord and tenants in small claims court for amounts up to $7,000 per plaintiff, Ahearn said.
An administrative sanctions program allows some San Diego officers in the midcity area to cite landlords and tenants under the municipal code for a fine between $200 and $1,000 if a home has been CAPPed and complaints continue.
The program, which is fairly new and has not yet been implemented at Northern Division, will be reviewed in the fall by the city council and the mayor’s office to determine whether it goes citywide, Ahearn said.
“If it’s regarding a party issue where there are chronic parties at a residence or any type of parking or crowd issues or excessive litter, people urinating in public “” any of that “” I want them to report that to Northern Division,” Ahearn said in response to La Jolla residents’ recent concern. “We encourage people to report homes they want us to consider for CAPP because they are our eyes and ears. They are the ones living next door and the ones having their lives disturbed by that activity.”
Klene and Brau are taking their own action by distributing flyers listing contact information for Peters’ and Sanders’ offices and encouraging residents to voice concerns about mini-dorms in the community, they said.
Klene’s neighbor is also helping with the effort after several unpleasant interactions with the tenants. The students’ vehicles have remained parked in front of her family’s mailbox, preventing postal workers from delivering mail, she said.
A postal worker left a warning note on the owner’s vehicle about the situation, and when the resident asked the students if they had received the notice, they acknowledged they had but did not immediately comply, she said.
Brau is working in conjunction with several Pacific Beach and College Area residents to organize a group to speak in opposition to future mini-dorm proposals as each case is heard by the city’s Planning Commission and City Council, he said.
While it is still an isolated issue in La Jolla, Brau and Klene are not taking any chances, they said.
“The first step is to put up signs and walk the neighborhood to see who is responsive and understands the issue,” Brau said. “I can’t really say it’s impacted my quality of life yet, but ultimately what we want to do is get organized, because when the city starts addressing these issues and having hearings we need to start going in groups as a community.”
For more information about the mini-dorm issue, visit www.sandiego.gov and search “mini-dorms.” The CAPP coordinator, also in charge of the nuisance abatement program, can be reached by calling (858) 552-1717.