Boston University and its students were at the forefront of a City Council meeting as members discussed the city’s undergraduate housing limitation.
City Council President Mike Ross (Backbay, Fenway, Kenmore) proposed an ordinance that will increase the enforcement of a law that prohibits more than four unrelated undergraduates from living together. Ross co-sponsored the restriction, which was approved by the Zoning Board in March 2008.
If passed, the council’s proposal will require universities to submit the names of students who violate the law to the Boston Inspectional Service Department, which enforces housing regulations.
Colleges already must figure out where their students live and are required to come up with charts representing this data every six months, according to Ross’s Chief of Staff.
As of 2004, universities must file a “University Accountability Report” that has the number of students, and the number of students that live on and off-campus, according to the City of Boston website. This new ordinance will take the 2004 enforcement further by requiring schools to submit actual violator names.
If the ordinance passes, universities would have to go through the accountability reports to find names of all students who share the same address with more than three of their peers, and report it to the ISD.
Do you think this plan will work?
Source: Daily Free Press
