The Baltimore County Board of Appeals upheld yesterday a loophole in the zoning code designed to prevent too many renters from living in one house, a particular problem in the areas surrounding Towson University.
The law says only two unrelated renters can live in a house in a single-family zone. In this case, the owners of a Towson rowhouse made two tenants 1 percent owners of the house, thus allowing two more people to live there.
In May, county Administrative Hearing Officer Stanley J. Schapiro ruled that the arrangement was a sham and did not constitute real ownership.
Furthermore, because most of the tenants maintained driver's licenses and voter registration in other states (all were current students or recent graduates of Towson), the house could not be considered their "primary residence," as required by the code, Schapiro wrote in his ruling.
Although they said they regretted having to make their decision, the three members of the Board of Appeals concluded yesterday that Schapiro erred in his interpretation of the law.
The law defines "owner" as the person listed on the county's tax records, and the two 1 percent owners are. And since the tenants spent most of their time in the rowhouse - and not in their parents' homes, where they're listed in voter and motor vehicle rolls - it is clearly their "primary residence," the board decided.
"We agree on the question of ownership. It is ownership, no matter how small and no matter how much we may dislike it," said board member Charles L. Marks. "The County Council has the prerogative to change it [the law]. That's what we elect them to do."
"Baloney," said Arnold Jablon, the director of development and permits management, who said he thinks the board is wrong and will seek an appeal. "What they've done is to legitimize this guy. ... It just opens up Pandora's box."
William L. Ralston, the attorney for 63 Burkshire Road LLC, the company that owns the remaining 98 percent of the property, said he was pleased with the decision but believes it will not be the last word on the case. Besides the prospect of an appeal to the Circuit Court, he said he expects the County Council to take up the matter.
The neighborhood the house is in, Burkleigh Square, has for years been a favorite location for Towson students looking to bunk together to save on rent. It's across York Road from the university and has a number of rowhouses that have been converted to rental units.
Residents have been crusading against illegal rentals there for years, saying the crowding of tenants leads to excessive trash, noise and parking problems. Neighbors there routinely gather evidence of how many people live in each house by tracking the license plates of cars parked outside for months at a stretch. The county's file for 63 Burkshire Road bulges with six months of license-plate logs.
Despite the work they put into the case, neighborhood activists were philosophical about yesterday's decision. Whitney Dudley, who compiled most of the logs on this house, said she had seen the flaws in Schapiro's decision and expected the reversal.
But, she added, the case shows the County Council where the loopholes are in the law. She said she has met several times with Councilman Wayne M. Skinner, who represents the area, to discuss the case and possible remedies.
