Students who are getting fined for over-occupancy violations should be angry with the landlords who knew the zoning ordinances but went ahead and put too many people on the lease. The judge penalized both the tenants and the landlords, establishing that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. In all four of the hearings, renters had to pay stiff fines.

The Ames zoning ordinance is clear. Residential Low Density means a family or not more than three unrelated people. The neighborhoods did not make up this ordinance. Every good city has zoning laws. The City Council supports the ordinance saying the purpose is to protect family neighborhoods and “limit the tendency of converting single-family and two-family structures to rental units, which results in excessive use of the property and the corresponding negative impact on the neighborhood.”

We care about our neighborhoods. Most of us have lived here for decades. But we also want to make sure that tenants are fully informed so they are not fined for disobeying city ordinances. We are proposing to the City Council that as of next year all leases have addendums which clearly state occupancy limits and are signed by all tenants.

In the meantime, students can go online to check the occupancy limits in the places they rent or plan on renting at www.city. ames.ia.us. Go to Departments, then Ames Assessor and click on “property search” for a specific address. If the house is listed RL (Residential Low Density), there can not be more than three unrelated tenants no matter how many bedrooms the house has, nor how many persons the house had previously, nor what assurances the landlord makes about not getting fined.

Students might not agree with the city’s zoning ordinance, but they can protect themselves if they know what it is.

Sharon Guber

State Street Neighborhood

Fern Kupfer

SCAN: South Campus Neighborhood

Frank Trumpy

Edwards School Neighborhood