Single-Family Zoning BS

[holding1]

This whole single-family zoning thing really pisses me off. The people who are for this rule, and those who have increased the fine which comes from more than 2 non-related people living together seem ignorant to me.

What other random bull**** can this city make up to fine people for? Why don't we just pass an ordinance that disallows anything that "families" don't do.

"Fine the bastards." That seems to be the answer for any disgruntled idiot.

I know some people who "violate" this ordinance, and they certainly don't deserve a $950 fine. They impress me when it comes to being good people. No loud parties, no disturbances whatsoever, and they're out 950 bucks.

This ordinance seems straight out of the dark ages.

Seriously, people who aren't related that live in the same house could be practicing witchcraft or worshipping the devil.

Jeez.

ABOUT 2YRS AGO WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE MY ROOMMATE AND I WERE LOOKING FOR A NICE HOUSE THAT WE COULD RENT THAT IS CLOSE TO SCHOOL. WELL THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE BECAUSE 90% OF SAN MARCOS IS ZONED SINGLE-FAMILY AND THIS WAS ALL TAKEN CARE OF BEFORE THE COLLEGE DECIDED TO EXPAND SO INSTEAD OF CREATING LOW INCOME HOUSING SPECIFICALLY GEARED TOWARDS FAMILIES AND COLLEGE STUDENTS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY OF THE COLLEGE THEY EXPAND AS FAR AS YOU CAN IMAGINE 5,10,20 MILES AWAY FROM THE COLLEGE SO STUDENTS ARE FORCED TO COMMUTE AND SPEND GAS, BUY A PARKING PASS SO AS NOT TO BE TOWED FROM THE PARKING SPOT THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS ALREADY TAKEN. THE SCHOOL AND CITY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND THEY ARE REAPING THE REWARDS OF THE IGNORANT COMMUNITY. NOT THAT THESE INDIVIDUALS COULD NOT COMPREHEND WHAT IS GOING ON, THE CITY AND SCHOOL KNOW NOT TO SAY TOO MUCH IN ORDER TO PREVENT BACKLASH. WE MOVED TO HUNTER RIDGE ROAD OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS ABOUT 10 MILES OUT OF TOWN SO WE DID NOT HAVE TO ABIDE BY THE SINGLE-FAMILY ZONING RESTRICTION. THE SCHOOL AND THE CITY ALSO REAP GREAT REWARDS FROM HAVING ALL THESE APT COMPLEXES THAT GOUGE THEIR RESIDENTS BECAUSE WHERE ELSE ARE THE STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO LIVE. IT IS AN ARCANE RESTRICTION THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN CARE OF BUT IT IS UNLIKELY WITH ALL THE ELDER STATESMAN IN POWER THAT HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH THE YOUNG COMMUNITY ON WHICH IS PREYS AND THRIVES UPON.

I am a tax paying, law abiding citizen. I have a full time job in San Antonio that i get up for every morning. I vote and pay taxes in Hays Co. I AM NOT a student. This law discriminates against me because i am young. Im 26 years old and do not have a family. I hardly ever party during the week. Yet i and my roomates who also work for a living are subject to fine just for living in town. I have lived here most of my life. It makes no sense for me to live close to campus because I DONT ATTEND THE DAMN SCHOOL! This whole community is driven by the University which has been here since 1903! What else would fuel our economy if the school was not here? Yet lets make it harder on the students that make our businesses thrive. Lets fine em! And lets drive up the rental rates by creating more demand for already hard to obtain housing close to campus. I resent the fact that the city tells me where i can and can not live just because i do not have a family. I am old enough to buy alcohol, vote, pay taxes and go to war. Why doesnt the city just make it illegal to party at all? How bout a fine for buying more than one six-pack of beer at a time! Or maybe a mandatory curfew for anyone under 30? If they are not tucked in snugly in bed by 10 pm lets fine them too. This is the stupidest law i have ever heard of. And it is all because of young people being young and older people not accepting that YOU LIVE IN A COLLEGE TOWN!!! The University was here before you and the students have to live somewhere. Deal with it or move.

[A2]

WOW....
A college town with a housing and parking problem....There's a news flash....

[A2]

If you really want to voice your opinion go to the city council meeting tonight..

It's the number one issue on the agenda.

Sure, there are renters who are fine neighbors, but there are too many who are not. Take a look at Sageweood. Watch the traffic in the residential areas that the renters use as shortcuts. If renters didn't have loud parties, race up and down the streets, litter, scream, etc, permanent residents wouldn't complain.

If you're a "good" renter, then rather than bitch at the property owners, why don't you join the cause and get your neighbor to cut the ****? I can believe that you are a good neighbor, but I can't believe that you don't know of any bad ones. Your neighbors are the ones causing problems for you, not the city residents.

The other reason for the crackdown is that too many of those rented houses are owned by people from other cities and states and they have no interest in the future of San Marcos. They do not maintain the appearance of their properties and they do not take responsibility for what goes on in their properties.

You can go a long way toward changing things by acting responsibly and getting your neighbors to do the same. Bitching at the residents won't get you anywhere.

THE REASON SAGEWOOD IS HECTIC IS BECAUSE THEY DECIDED TO ALLOW ALL OF THE COLLEGE STUDENTS TO MOVE THERE. OBVIOUSLY, SAGEWOOD WOULD BE HECTIC BECAUSE IT WAS MEANT TO CATER TO THAT CROWD. THERE ARE APARTMENT COMPLEXES THAT LITTER THE AREA AND ATTRACT COLLEGE STUDENTS. MY SUGGESTION IS INTERSPERSING COLLEGE STUDENTS THOURGHOUT THE CITY INSTEAD OF ISOLATING THEM TO CERTAIN AREAS. COHABITATION WOULD LEND IT SELF TO A MORE CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH EVERYONE CAN FEEL OPEN TO DISCUSS NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES. I WAS FORCED TO LIVE OUT OF TOWN BECAUSE OF THE ZONING RESTRICTION AND I LIVED IN A WONDERFUL NEIGHBORHOOD. THERE WERE 2-3 HOUSES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS AND THE REST WHERE FAMILIES AND POLICE OFFICERS. NO ONE COMPLAINED AND EVERYONE GOT ALONG REAL WELL. WHEN THERE IS UNDERSTANDING AMONG THE RESIDENTS ABOUT WHAT CAN AND CANNOT OCCUR THEN HARMONY WILL EXIST. IT IS NO ONES FAULT EXCEPT FOR THOSE WHO INTENTIONALLY MAKE OTHER PEOPLES LIVES MORE DIFFICULT. WE ALL KNOW THESE PEOPLE AND THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH THEM IS LET THEM KNOW THIS IS THE WAY THINGS SHOULD HAPPEN AND IF THEY DO NOT AGREE THEN THEY CAN RELOCATE.

[semi-native]

Denizen,

I am not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing. Either way, there is no law against you renting a house. I always rented houses when I was in college. I rented two-bedroom houses and had a roommate the whole time. Our rent was between $475 and $900, depending on how nice the place was. There are plenty of those places around. I just referred a coworker to one for $700 per month. The zoning reg just says that you can't rent the 5-bedroom next door to me, double up in all of the bedrooms and turn it into a fraternity house. I don't see a problem with that.

Sagewood is a disaster and it is not the only one; it is just the best known. It is almost impossible to get down the street, there is litter everywhere and it gets very loud at night. That problem isn't the result of one or two "bad apples" there are a lot of problem tenants over there and there are a lot of poorly maintained buildings. You can complain and reason all you want, but until you can show me that there is not a pretty good chance that the same will happen next door to me, you're not going to get 4 or 5 college kids living there.

It is not just the noise and the litter, either. Younger people tend to drive faster and drunker. I know. I did it when I was in college and I see it on my street every weekend. We've had animals hit by cars and a number of close calls with houses and people. I pick up ****ing beer bottles and McDonald's bags all the time from people passing by. You want to live here? Not while the larger group acts the way it does. You may be a great neighbor, but why would I want to take that gamble?

QUITE THE CONTRARY SEMI-NATIVE, THERE ARE LAWS THAT RESTRICT YOU FROM RENTING. YOU MAY ONLY HAVE ONE NON-RELATIVE LIVING IN THE HOUSE AT ONE TIME. I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT FRAT HOUSES I AM TALKING ABOUT THE MAJORITY OF US THAT LIVE WITH ONE-TWO-THREE ROOMMATES. WE ARE UNABLE TO DO SO BECAUSE OF THE SINGLE FAMILY RESTRICTION. YOU ALSO DID NOT STATE WHERE EXACTLY YOU LIVE BECAUSE SOME PLACES ARE ZONED THAT WAY AND OTHERS ARE NOT. SAGEWOOD IS OVER GLAMOURIZED AND THAT IS EVERYONE'S FAULT. TRASH EVERYONE, LOUD AT ALL HOURS, BUT THAT IS SIMPLY ONE HUGE EXAMPLE. THERE ARE SMALLER ONES. MY SUGGESTION WAS TO INTERSPERSE THESE INDIVIDUALS THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY SO THE BAD APPLES WOULD HAVE TO CHOOSE WHETHER OR NOT THEY WISH TO LIVE IN A CONSERVATIVE NEIGHBORHOOD OR NOT. I HAVE FOUND HOUSES AS WELL THAT YOU CAN MOVE INTO, BUT FEW AND FAR BETWEEN AS WELL AS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE IN A DECENT NEIGHBORHOOD THEN YOU MUST ABIDE BY THE SINGLE FAMILY SONING RESTIRCTIONS. ALSO THE RENTING AGENCIES AND OTHER REAL ESTATE ESTABLISHMENTS WILL GO INTO DETAIL ABOUT WHAT SINGLE FAMILY ZONING IS BECAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY DID FOR ME AND MY ROOMMATE. THIS IS ALSO NOT IN RESPONSE TO DUPLEXES OR FOUR-PLEXES THIS IS SIMPLY FOR THE LEASE OF A HOUSE OUT RIGHT. FORTUNATELY WHEN YOU TRAVEL DOWN HUNTER ROAD YOU NO LONGER HAVE THE RESTRICTIONS AND YOU CAN LEASE OR OWN WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE. NOW IF YOU ARE ABLE TO FIND A PLACE THEN MORE POWER TO YOU BUT MY MAIN ISSUE WAS SINGLE FAMILY ZONING FOR THE LEASE OF A HOME WITH ONE OR MORE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE NOT RELATED. GOOD RESPONSE THOUGH SEMI-NATIVE, PEOPLE USUALLY JUST COMPLAIN INSTEAD OF DISCUSS

[semi-native]

You are allowed to rent a house with one roommate. That's what I did. You can't have two or three roommats unless they are related to you or each other. Maybe you should be allowed to have two roommates. Maybe you should be allowed to have three. If so, you should be trying to get the zoning restriction revised, not removed.

No offense, but I am still opposed to changing the rules. There are plenty of houses for rent for $800 or less in this town. I've never had trouble finding one for myself or for anyone else.