As college students, we live on tight budgets. From DU’s mile high tuition bill to student fees, food and housing, expenses are seemingly endless to grapple with. After spending two years on campus because of DU’s live-on requirement, most upperclassmen move off campus for their junior and senior years. Many choose to live together to save money on rent, whether it be in an apartment or house. Unfortunately, old laws limiting how many unrelated people can live together means that many students who live with their friends off campus are subject to these laws, which serve little true purpose. They should be repealed so college students do not have to live, knowingly or unknowingly, in the shadows of the law.
Although the City of Denver certainly has these regulations in place, it is only one of many cities. Boulder and Fort Collins have regulations limiting the number of unrelated people that can live together at three, while Greeley limits it to two. Similar laws exist from New Orleans to New York.
In Denver, the system is slightly more complicated. According to the city’s website, “In a single unit zone district, two unrelated persons per household are allowed, and with a home occupation permit, an additional unrelated person is allowed. In a multi-unit zone district, four unrelated persons per household are allowed, and with a home occupation permit, two additional unrelated persons are allowed.” Unfortunately, most of the residential area surrounding DU is designated as single unit zone district, meaning only two unrelated people, or three with a permit, are allowed to live together. This number is too low.
College students have inevitably run into this problem in other cities home to campuses, and progress has been made. In Boston and Amherst, Mass., for example, city regulators drew the line at four unrelated people per apartment or household, provided that they are all college undergrads.
The good news is that these regulations are rarely enforced and frequently violated to the point where many students do not even know they are living in violation of the law. Enforcement is usually only ever carried out if the neighbors complain. Still, as noted on CU’s website, students found living in violation are subject to fines of up to $2000 per day.
Instead of worrying about exactly how many unrelated people are living in one house or apartment, city authorities would be wiser to spend their time looking at whether buildings are safe to inhabit, making sure there are no fire code violations and the like. Many students find it an economic necessity to share a living space with multiple friends after moving off campus, and the city should not get in the way with archaic regulations. Denver and other local cities with major college campuses like Boulder, Fort Collins and Greeley should repeal these laws and allow students to share a mutually agreed upon living space.