ACLU suing over Providence ordinance restricting number of college students in rental homes

PROVIDENCE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has filed a lawsuit that seeks to overturn a Providence ordinance limiting the number of college students who can live in a rental house in city neighborhoods.
The ACLU in the suit is representing an Elmhurst homeowner and four tenants, who are students at Johnson & Wales University. The organization, through its volunteer attorneys, said the ordinance is discriminatory and ineffective. Its stated purpose, of improving neighborhoods, will likely have the most impact on lower-income students, the ACLU argues.
The ordinance prohibits more than three college students from living together in a non-owner occupied single-family home in residential zones. Approved in September 2015, the ordinance unfairly restricts the rights of property owners to rent their houses to tenants they choose, according to attorney Jeffrey Levy, who filed the lawsuit in Rhode Island Superior Court. A hearing has not been scheduled.
The city has a number of existing tools that could be aimed at nuisance properties, Levy said, if the perceived problem is that houses with college students are loud or boisterous, including a noise ordinance and underage drinking laws. “There are all sorts of other ways to come at the problem,” he said.

No posts to display