Are 10 too many per single-family home?

Tue, 01/16/2007 - 4:08pm
By: John Thompson

Are 10 people living in a single-family home too many?

That’s just one of the issues the Association of Fayette County Governments plans to look at and study over the next few months as local governments grapple with an influx of situations where several families live in one home.

At last week’s meeting, Chairman Larry Dell of Fayetteville said his city is currently looking at an ordinance that could be enforceable. Fayetteville officials have drafted an ordinance that adopts the International Property Maintenance Code. The ordinance says that no more than eight people can reside in a home, unless a variance is granted. Additionally, no more than two vehicles could be parked outside of a garage.

In December, the Cherokee County Commission passed an ordinance that allows that county to punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants. The issue drew a huge crowd at the public hearing and various civil rights groups have said the ordinance could not pass a legal challenge.

In other news, the group heard a report on making the permitting process for the county’s alcohol servers countywide and more streamlined. Peachtree City Police Chief Jim Murray said he is working with the other police agencies in the county to have the same ordinance for all alcohol servers and have a central place where the permitting could occur. He hopes to have the process completed in the next 90 days.

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Submitted by head_ragg on Wed, 01/17/2007 - 9:00pm.

why you keep letting Weiland build those huge ..caves...he calls homes...I mean...5/6 bedrooms..upstairs and we haven't even hit the basement yet...or the upstairs...give me a break...then we ok a itti biddi sewer system for them..he makes money and the taxpayers are left to pay for the overcrowded schools, systems that don't work...and people in the neighborhood that give you the willies...and wonder if you are gonna get mugged!

chippie's picture
Submitted by chippie on Thu, 01/18/2007 - 7:21am.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't live in a Weiland community. If fact, it's an older subdivision with typically 3 bedroom homes built by quite a few different builders. The house referenced (in the next post), in particular, was built by the previous owner who lived in it for over 10 years and is a one-story.


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Submitted by chippie on Wed, 01/17/2007 - 11:51am.

We have a household just like this in our neighborhood. It is technically a 5 bedroom house with a detached, two story garage, but we've counted at least 18 - 20 adults and children. There are two vans, at least two four-door trucks, and a car or two. The vans typically arrive after dark and leave VERY early, before we go to school.

An immediate neighbor to this house has seen a twin-sized bed in the detached garage - who knows how many more are in there that can't be seen from the street. In the yard, there are a lot of frames for doing cement/foundation work. The adult males will not speak nor make eye contact with the neighbors.

We're not happy about how this situation appears, but a major concern is how long their septic system can handle that much usage. If/when it fails, it could directly affect my family.


Submitted by RubyBegonia on Wed, 01/17/2007 - 11:38am.

Our daughter lives in a very nice Peachtree City apartment community with her college room mate and tells me there are at least ten people living in two bedroom apartments. She has observed young kids being dropped off on Sunday evenings and the kids stay in these apartments to attend school in Fayette county. The cars dropping these kids off have Clayton and Fulton county license plates. We have no idea if these people are illegal aliens, but they are definitely not Hispanic.

Submitted by McDonoughDawg on Wed, 01/17/2007 - 11:06am.

Our neighborhoods and schools can't support it. If someone can't prove they are IMMEDIATE family, I'm against it. Guests are one thing, but real live flop houses are what we are talking about here.

Submitted by JoAnn on Sun, 01/21/2007 - 11:30pm.

If it is a family with kids then FINE. But if Aunts and Uncles are included THEN NO WAY. They should buy their own home.

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Submitted by chippie on Mon, 01/22/2007 - 6:33am.

the kids in the house have told neighbors there are "only two families in the house, their family and an aunt, uncle and cousins."

All I can say is they have A LOT of uncles and cousins living with them, and we can't forget a grandma, and sister, and . . . Will it ever end?


Submitted by 30YearResident on Wed, 01/17/2007 - 10:24am.

I use to own a quad rental building. They were 2 bedroom, 1 bath units and our rule was no more than 4 people per unit.
Once the mexican element started moving in, our water bill tripled. Why? There were 12 to 18 people living in each unit (without our knowledge). Sleeping pads were all over the floors.

They worked in three eight hour shifts. One third would be at work, one-third would be asleep and one-third would be awake, showering and cooking. There were usually only 2 vehicles (vans).

We had a heck of a time evicting them and policing the rules without city/county support. But we did it.... finally.

I think a city/county ordinance of no more than 2 residents per bedroom of a structure is reasonable.

Submitted by dollaradayandfound on Tue, 01/16/2007 - 7:17pm.

This is obviously another way to harass selected people without arresting them for being illegal. Or, we are to think that.
You needn't worry though about enforcement, we don't enforce the codes we have in PTC. Even complaints (a heck of a way to operate)don't get them enforced. I'm sure they need to hire six more people to enforce the codes, however. We can't even check if the exit lights are burning in commercial establishments. One trip per week around Peachtree City will find cars parked on the grass, along with a golf cart maybe, and a motorcycle, a camper and a boat for days, six or seven trash cans at the end of the driveway visible, and mudholes all over. Fences are falling down and driveways are cracked nearly completely.
Does anyone think an officer is going to knock on a door with several illegal families living there and start checking quantities of people and their "papers?" I don't. It is a political ploy.

Tug13's picture
Submitted by Tug13 on Tue, 01/16/2007 - 6:42pm.

I hope you will concentrate on a rental house that has suddenly become a halfway house in the city of Fayetteville. I have a good friend who lives near this house. How can this happen in a residential neighborhood? What kind of people live in this house? What crimes did they commit? Nearby neighbors have asked these questions and have not received answers.
One of the neighbors was told the women live upstairs and the men live downstairs. How many people live there?


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Submitted by bad_ptc on Tue, 01/16/2007 - 5:31pm.

Than do just that. ARREST and DEPORT them.

Who's business is it that I can't use my driveway to park as many vehicles as I want on it? I own both the driveway and the cars parked on it and I pay taxes for each of them.

What if I keep my two collector cars in the garage and my other three or four in the driveway.

God forbid you've tried to do something nice for your parents and modified your home by adding an "in-law suite" so that they could live with you and their grand kids. There are several people that have done that in PTC.

As there are some 10,000+ golf darts in PTC and they are classified as "vehicles" do they count as well?

If the objective of these asinine ordinances is to deter illegal immigrants than simply write another unenforced ordinance saying that illegal immigrants are illegal.


Submitted by IMNSHO on Tue, 01/16/2007 - 4:21pm.

8-10 people in a 1500 sq ft, 3 bedroom house is much different from that same number in a 4000 sq ft 6 bedroom house. And I think it is different when you're talking about 8 adults vs 2 adults and 6 kids.

No more than 2 vehicles parked outside of a garage? Then what do families with no garage do? Or families who have a 2 car garage, but also have 3 teen drivers, each with their own cars?

Common sense is needed in this discussion, but is, unfortunately, often lacking in government.

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