Council discusses residential over-occupancy, enforcement and policy options amid neighborhood concerns

The College Park City Council spent a substantial portion of its April 1 meeting on a work session about residential over-occupancy, enforcement challenges and possible policy responses.

Tony Coker, the city's director of public services, described the current enforcement approach: complaint-driven inspections, notices of violation and time to cure before follow-up. "If we find that there is an over occupancy or any violation of the family definition for more than 5 unrelated people, we make a note of it, and then we issue a NOV, and then we give them time to cure it," he said. Coker said many enforcement actions result from complaints and that staff frequently encounters issues ranging from makeshift sleeping spaces to missing emergency-egress windows and nonworking smoke detectors.

Council members and staff explored a range of potential responses. Ideas discussed included:

- Requiring landlords to provide lease information to the city as part of a rental registration or permitting system, so the city can confirm how many named occupants are on a lease and track compliance. - Creating a searchable rental registry or interactive map of registered rental properties so neighbors and staff know who manages a property and how to contact the owner or local agent. - Imposing a cap on the number of permitted rental properties (or rental permits) per block or neighborhood to reduce rental density—a measure mentioned by Councilmember Rigg and described as used in other college towns. - Reviewing and updating code language and the fine schedule (including larger civil penalties) and considering a "three-strike" enforcement rule for repeat violations, as suggested by several council members. - Using parking-permit policy in permit-parking areas to limit the number of resident permits per household or reduce visitor permits to curb on-street congestion linked to crowded houses. - Strengthening outreach and education for property managers, student organizations and University of Maryland off-campus housing channels; staff noted existing "knock-and-talk" outreach at the start of each semester.

Councilmembers stressed the need to balance neighborhood stability and affordability: several said overly strict enforcement could displace tenants mid-year, while others said targeted enforcement against known problem properties would help long-term residents.

Staff said some code changes would require legal review and coordination with county or state statutes; the "five unrelated persons" threshold derives from county zoning definitions that the city enforces. Coker told council staff would research best practices from other university towns, consult the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC 2021) where applicable, and return with draft operational changes and policy options.

Why it matters: Council members described the issue as high-priority for several neighborhoods where residents report chronic problems tied to overcrowded rental houses: trash, parking congestion, and degraded quality of life. Council and staff agreed to continue work sessions and to solicit input from landlords, student housing operators, the University of Maryland, real-estate stakeholders and county government before proposing code changes or new permit systems.

Next steps: Staff will research best practices from other university towns, examine the city's rental registry and permitting rules, review potential county legal constraints (including the five-unrelated-persons threshold), and bring recommendations and draft language back to the council for further discussion.