From WJLA.com:

Fairfax Officials To Crack Down On Housing Violations

FAIRFAX, Va. - Friday April 06, 2007 5:22 am
ABC 7 News - Fairfax Officials To Crack Down On Housing Violations

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Officials in Fairfax County say they are seeing a rise in complaints about overcrowded housing and other zoning violations.

Because of that, Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly is calling for a crack down on offending property owners with fines and even jail sentences.

Connolly wants a "strike force" of inspectors to target specific neighborhoods where complaints have been received. The concerns include abandoned automobiles, illegal home additions, trash and the operating of businesses in residential districts.

Reports of single-family homes being used as boarding houses rose about 80 percent from 2004 to 2006.

In most Virginia communities, single-family homes must be occupied by people related by blood or marriage, with no more than an additional two non-family members.

No more than four unrelated people can live in any home. Violations are punishable by fines of up to $1,500.

The first time they try to enforce a case possessing an immigrant (illegal or otherwise) component, which is really at the heart of the issue, liberal voices will begin to chant "discrimination" and we'll never hear of the initiative again. My guess is they'll start with the one or two complaints that do not contain the derisive element of "immigration' in order to establish program credibility for when they then address the majority of culprits.

You know there used to be a time when discrimination was a personal attribute; e.g. a discriminating eye or a discriminating shopper... I wonder if it wasn't for humanity's ability to "discriminate" between animals that we could eat and animals that could eat us, where would we be?

If you look at what HUD and ACLU said about Manassas when they tried to deal with over-crowding, the two groups complained that a larger percentage of reports were about Hispanic families than they were about white or black families. Of course, they didn't take into consideration that maybe there were more Hispanic families breaking the law than white or black families. Bureaucrats at their finest.

:burpgun: Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The first time they try to enforce a case
> possessing an immigrant (illegal or otherwise)
> component, which is really at the heart of the
> issue, liberal voices will begin to chant
> "discrimination" and we'll never hear of the
> initiative again.

:burpgun: Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The first time they try to enforce a case
> possessing an immigrant (illegal or otherwise)
> component, which is really at the heart of the
> issue, liberal voices will begin to chant
> "discrimination" and we'll never hear of the
> initiative again.

I just love it when people say something really stupid and then blame society's woes on "liberals" as a collective.

Let us try this:

"I hope they do not find a cache of firearms, grenades and ski masks in the overcrowded houses, then we will hear from the conservatives that the overcrowding is just an excuse for the government to take their guns away. After which nothing will ever get done about the overcrowding."

"Blaming society's woes on liberals..." Was that in my post? Your inference is oddly defensive, and if you keep jumping to conclusions like that "Minnesotta" will likely realize they can do better...

Should be less of a problem now that the housing meltdown is in full-swing and construction has slowed down, meaning that these migrant workers are no longer finding jobs here and migrating elsewhere.

... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Should be less of a problem now that the housing
> meltdown is in full-swing and construction has
> slowed down, meaning that these migrant workers
> are no longer finding jobs here and migrating
> elsewhere.


I live in a neighborhood with about 10 flop houses. Most are now for sale. A couple have already turned over and don't have illegals living in them anymore. It looks like the banks have taken over a few others. The subprime loans are coming due.

Unfortunately you might start seeing more things like that guy in Frederick who killed his family. Tragic and sad.

the housing boom has mooved west and south.

South Carolina is booming. Myrtle Beach is grinding out lots of new homes in the area. Cheaper than Nags Head and less restrictions on housing starts.

At least it's not as bad as Phoenix - I read the other day they're finding coyote drop houses with 60-80 illegals jammed in them.

Our neighborhood, Fairfax Club Estates, has at least four properties with active zoning complaints including one on my street. We spoke with an inspector last week who told us that boarding house violations are very difficult and tedious to investigate unless there are signs that people are sleeping in non-bedroom areas (e.g. kitchen & living room) and the whole issue of 'unrelated people' is almost impossible to sort out.

However, the inspector noticed two violations which may result in enforcement actions. First, there was evidence that multiple people were occupying a finished (below grade) basement as a living area/bedroom. This is a clear life safety violation and is subject to immediate enforcement. Second, the inspector saw evidence, in the form of building supplies and wheelbarrows, that a business was being run out of the property. While it takes time to process this type of complaint, it should result in the property being cleaned up beyond simply putting the items behind a fence in the backyard. The property is effectively a meeting place for a small number of construction laborers which is not allowed either.

Not surprisingly, the property resident told the inspector that this is harassment and asked who filed the complaint.

.