Clarke eyes tougher rules for off-campus living

Councilman Darrell L. Clarke said yesterday that he will introduce legislation on Thursday that would keep closer tabs on students living near the universities in his 5th Councilmanic district.

The ordinance would bring his district under the designation as an Educational Housing District, thereby imposing stricter requirements on students, landlords and universities that have students living off campus.

Universities would have to keep records of their students' off-campus addresses and provide those addresses to city officials when requested, Clarke said. Students would also have to report their cars for a vehicle-identification program.

Clarke said yesterday that the ordinance is his response to a wave of recent protests and community meetings in North Philadelphia over alleged zoning violations involving Temple University students living in areas zoned for single-family homes.

He said he expects the ordinance to give teeth to other zoning codes already on the books.

Current law says that there should be no student housing in certain sections of North Philadelphia unless the owner also lives in the house.

But Clarke said that the Department of Licenses and Inspections does not have the manpower to enforce that restriction. By registering students with their universities, Clarke contends that the surrounding student population will be easier to manage.

But the thrust of Clarke's legislation seems aimed at student behavior; it would punish students who frequently have loud, late-night parties or damage neighbors' property under city nuisance laws.

Some Yorktown residents, who live south of Temple's main campus, said that they have been disturbed by loud parties and lewd front-porch behavior that was visible to children.

But leaders of Jefferson Manor Homeowners Association, south and east of Yorktown, didn't think the new legislation made much sense.

They said all the city has to do is enforce its current zoning laws.

"We keep saying this a million times, why are they going back to [student] behavior, when we have a law on the books and it prohibits student housing that is not owner-occupied," said Roberta Faison, president of the association.

"Whether it's one student or 50 students, [the existing ordinance] doesn't talk about how many are living there, or what they're doing," Faison insisted.

In response to Clarke's assertion that L&I can't enforce that rule, Faison charged that all the city has to do is check its own records.

She said that it is clear from city property records that one landlord, who lists a home address of Sea Girt, N.J., can't also live in the eight or nine homes that city records show he owns in Yorktown and Jefferson Manor.

Renee McNear, who lives in Yorktown, said last night that she was pleased to hear that some action is being taken by Clarke on Thursday.

"I'll be there," McNear said.

Ray Betzner, a Temple University spokesman, had not had a chance to see the proposed law last night and said he could not comment on it. *