Since the March 12 passing of a new City of Boston zoning ordinance, students may need to rethink their off-campus living situations. The regulation, effective immediately, changes the definition of 'family' to exclude a group of five or more "full-time undergraduate students at a postsecondary educational institution" from being considered a family.
This stipulation adds another layer to the zoning codes by which landlords must abide, and affects many of the Brighton area residences where groups of students larger than four traditionally rent. Students and administrators speculate that limiting the number of students in a dwelling will further disperse student dwellings in the surrounding neighborhood.
Proposed by City Councilor Michael Ross, the law will affect not only Boston College students, but all undergraduates living in the City of Boston. Michelle Snyder, a legislative aid to Ross, said the new ordinance was proposed in response to rising rent prices and tax rates in Boston neighborhoods.
Boston's housing market turned speculative after the Sang Vo case of 2003, which undid previous legislation limiting the number of unrelated individuals able to rent in a boarding house. "Landlords bought family houses to convert them into student housing with five, six, seven bedrooms," she said.
The result was not only an increase in property taxes for families, which are re-assessed periodically based on local real estate sales, but an increase in rent rates. "Because landlords can charge students a lot, housing became unaffordable to families," Snyder said. This law, which pertains to the definition of family, applies to single-, double-, and multi-family homes, not boarding houses.
Some conjecture that the law is discriminatory, unfairly targeting undergraduate students while leaving graduate students, recent graduates, or even students in the 18-22-year age group not enrolled in school, free to rent in any size group. "Our understanding is that the ordinance will be challenged by attorneys for local landlords who feel that the provision may be unconstitutional," said University Spokesman Jack Dunn.
