Recourse for a neighbor taking in boys? (inspections, zoning)

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Austin97

Permitted Use Chart | AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin

And the hits keep coming...

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[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

In the city proper, yes, but if you are out in the county, not so much, although there may be state laws that could affect them somewhat.

Counties in Texas have almost no power, unfortunately.
If you're outside city limits and have no HOA or a very weak HOA, watch out.

[achtungpv]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

So you're saying that there's an ordinance that four unrelated roommates can't live in the same house or apartment? That's what your statement above means, you do realize.

Can you provide a link to the specific ordinance, since your family had experience with it?

I haven't looked it up for Austin but that's not an uncommon ordinance for areas zoned single family. IIRC, in San Marcos the ordinance is no more than 2 unrelated people living in a single family residence. These ordinances are to prevent single family areas from becoming unofficial multifamily areas.

[owlman]

Austin's limit is 6 unrelated people, for most cases. But we don't even know if the OP is in the city limits.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by OpenD

And the hits keep coming...

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hah city government. Maybe try a google search for austin permitted use chart

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by achtungpv

I haven't looked it up for Austin but that's not an uncommon ordinance for areas zoned single family. IIRC, in San Marcos the ordinance is no more than 2 unrelated people living in a single family residence. These ordinances are to prevent single family areas from becoming unofficial multifamily areas.

SF1-SF3 can be group home class 1 or bed and breakfast class 1.

Those seem to imply something other than a single family use, however I couldnt find any information on what class 1 actually entails.

[alfaspyder]

As the Original Poster, I want to say thank you to some of you for responding in a serious manner to this issue. I am in the City of Austin limits. I live in a lovely home and next door is a married couple (the husband actually is employed by UT as an architect) who take in young men frequently and charge them a weekly rate. It's as simple and unpleasant as that.
There has been some incidences of crime (stealing money and credit cards, identity theft of her son), but it is mostly the strangers on our little street and insane traffic at all hours of the night that is pretty disturbing. We have a 2-house street, so the cars race up and down, day and night. I have small children and dogs.
The neighbor in question has a real $$ racket going on. Her son says these young men who move in actually wear his clothes and sleep in his bed.
What recourse as a neighbor do I have? Our neighborhood does not have a HOA, but there has to be some kind of zoning. Could this qualify as running a business? I am sure she is not reporting her weekly income she collects from these boys to the IRS. Her actions are unfair to us, and our right to peace of mind as well as peaceable habitation. Every time we venture outside, there is are guys hanging around or sitting outside, staring at our house/at us, smoking where the driveways meet, and they use my driveway to throw their cigarette butts in. Currently, the neighbors have 4 young men living there, plus their strapping 6'6" son who is on serious meds for mental issues. He has a felony record & a record for making terrorist threats. These guys wander up and down the street, and when they are not doing that, the neighbors have them doing lots of their yard work, so it's a regular cacophony of chainsawing of tree limbs, weed-eating and lawn-mowing. I am not a paranoid suburban lady nor am I nosy, as I haven't called the cops to come by and waste their time on something that hasn't happened... yet. But that IS the problem. I do not want to wait and be victim to what one of these guys lurking around is going to do... And how do I know they are NOT child molesters? Am I assured that out of the parade of young men, my neighbor is doing background checks?! Probably not. This neighbor is getting more and more bold. We are way past the chatting stage. Talking to her isn't going to deter her from this money train. Thank you again!

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

I'm still left wondering if they are "boys" or "men". You make reference to them in your title as "boys", but then in a post say they are "young men". In my mind one is not legal the other is.

You say you're on a two house street. The other houses must be close then? (the reference you made to the boys doing yard work for others)

I'm not trying to minimized your stress from this but I am trying to get a better picture of what is going on. If it were me and someone was throwing ciggarett butts over on my side I'd be ticked.

From what I gather the husband of the house in question works at UT. So, would I be safe in guessing these were students renting there?

And, how do you know they sleep in the sons bed? Are they telling you this? They might be trying to get your goat.

Maybe calling the city to see what the ordnance is regarding renting. My guess is you will then begin the phone chase. You will be referred to someone, someone will refer you to someone else, and on and on it goes. Be patient. Don't give up.

Sometimes just asking the right people will lead you to a better answer than this board. (this board is good but going one step further is better)

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[TexasHorseLady]

You say that the son says that they wear his clothes and sleep in his bed, and then a little further down you say that the son is "on serious meds for mental issues". Sounds to me like he's not the best source for accurate information, if the latter is, indeed, true.

[Trainwreck20]

In the COA, you should have some recourse, or at least be able to find someone who can help you out. Seriously, I would start with call 311. There are lots of people there that can help you answer some questions or point you to the person/department that can. These people answer anything from trivial to serious questions quite happily.

I am in no way a zone or code specialist, but it appears that they may be doing several things that could be considered 'iffy':
- Are they running a business of some kind, or could it be classified as a business? Zoning usually prohibits businesses in residential zoned areas, specifically due to vehicle traffic.
- If they are renting out space, it is quite possible that they could be classified as a motel/hotel/or similar activity. This might be legal in your zone, but it also probably requires registration and certain standards to be met/maintained.
- On just a side note, are you all on septic or city sewage? I am not sure if you street is just very short, or just rural. If you are in a rural area of incorporated Austin, then it is possible that the area is on septic, and it sounds like the septic system was probably designed for a lighter load than what you are describing (maybe, if could be over-designed). I only mention that because I have some passing knowledge of septic requirements; there could be other code issues.