The first tenants charged with violating the city of Ames’ over-occupancy policy will begin appearing in court next month.

Many of those fined are pleading not guilty. Among those declaring their innocence is Jeff Salz, 620 Lynn Ave., who thinks the city wrongfully fined him because he was given no prior notice of the policy.

“When we moved into the apartment, the landlord said there was no problem with having four people,” he said. “But last October all of us, including our landlord, were issued the fine. The city didn’t bother to warn us.”

The ordinance, which has caused citations to be issued to more than 60 students since October, has existed for years, but was never administered until recently.

“It isn’t that this is a newly passed ordinance,” said Judy Parks, an attorney for the city. “It’s existed for years but only been enforced in the past few months.”

Jeff Pearson, City of Ames building official, agreed the over-occupancy policy has been around for a while.

“We always investigated over-occupancy complaints,” Pearson said. “But we’ve only issued citations in the past few months.”

Some people believed the ordinance wasn’t being enforced, which led to the City Council’s decision for tougher enforcement, Pearson said.

The housing ordinance allows three nonrelated people per household. The penalty is $500, including court costs. The fine is issued to each person living at the residence, not just the one or two who exceed the occupancy limit.

Another Ames tenant, Kevin Taber, junior in business,was issued a fine during Finals Week.

There was no warning given before the inspectors began issuing fines, Taber said. “It was also right before Finals Week, and I was concerned about my exams, not a ridiculous ordinance,” he said.

Many of those who were issued citations have pleaded not guilty and sought legal advice. Among the lawyers aiding those fined is Timothy Gartin, who represents 20 of the 63 individuals fined for the zoning violation.

“There’s some desire to find resolution without litigation, otherwise they wouldn’t have put together the committee. But in hindsight, I wish the city would have put together this committee prior to taking so much action,” Gartin said.

Some residents said they were wrongfully fined, like Dylan DeBruin, senior in marketing.

“There were six of us living in an apartment, two of which were brothers. When we found out about [the ordinance] two guys immediately moved out,” he said. “The only reason we were fined was because there were six names on the mailbox, making the inspectors assume there were six of us. We were fined two weeks after the guys moved out. [The inspectors] clearly have no interest in the truth or our situation.”

The city refuses to drop the issue, DeBruin said. “At this point they’re only trying to make an example of people, not enforce the law.”