STAFFORD, Va. (AP) — Stafford County supervisors said a proposal to limit the number of unrelated people who can live in a single-family home is not directly aimed at day laborers or illegal immigrants.
The Board of Supervisors considered amending the zoning ordinance yesterday to limit to a residential dwelling to three people not related by blood, marriage, adoption or guardianship.
The Planning Commission will consider the proposal.
The proposed “family” definition to the housing code follows complaints by some residents of crowded homes and driveways. Some suspect the crowding is related to day laborers or illegal immigrants, many of whom must pool resources to find housing.
The complaints were made at public hearings conducted this year by the Illegal Immigration Task Force.
But supervisors said the proposed ordinance is intended to muffle noise pollution and address public safety issues related to crowding, not necessarily illegal immigrants.
“Nobody’s specifically linked that,” Supervisor Cord Sterling said.
“When you have that many people in a house you do have health and safety concerns,” he said.
Stafford does not have regulations limiting the number of unrelated people who can reside in a single-family residence.
“There’s absolutely no recourse. There’s no standards,” Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer said.
The proposal does not include group homes, such as those for the handicapped or licensed by the Department of Social Services.
Last year, Spotsylvania County passed a similar zoning ordinance to regulate how many people can occupy a bedroom, living room and dining room.
Stafford, Culpeper, Loudoun, Prince William and Spotsylvania counties are among the localities that have attempted to limit spending on services to illegal immigrants.
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