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Town: Illegal Apartments Sought
(by Ashley Beckford - November 06, 2007)
The borough is continuing to crack down on illegal apartments with a more stringent enforcement of the borough’s zoning codes created earlier this year. Even so, Councilman Joel Brizzi predicted that it might be two to three years before the illegal housing problem is under control.
Kenneth Felten, a retired deputy police chief in East Rutherford who served for 30 years, was hired to work with the building department to investigate illegal apartments.
His inquiries led to the superintendent of Becton Regional High School, who he contacted when he discovered that parents from nearby towns might have been registering their children with false addresses so that they could attend school in East Rutherford, though they did not live in the town.
He reported that nine of the 11 students he investigated had either moved, never lived at the address they used to register, or decided to quit school without notification.
Brizzi estimated that it costs $17,000 per year to educate one high school student, $11,000 for a grammar school student, and between $45,000 and $100,000 to educate a special needs individual. “These costs add to the cost of education for taxpayers in the borough,” he said.
Felten also reported he discovered an illegal studio apartment for rent in the borough. When he met the land-lord for an appointment, he was led to a recently renovated third-floor attic. He found that the owner had failed to get the proper building permits and inspections for the renovation, which has since become an illegal three-family dwelling. The building owner is an absentee landlord from Jersey City who is being cited for building code violations. If found guilty, he faces fines for the infraction.
Felten said any major renovations that someone wants for their property (i.e. knocking down walls, adding a bedroom, changing electrical wiring, etc.) need to be approved by the building department.
“Sometimes landlords want to make money, rather than being concerned with the safety of their tenants,” said Felten.
Mayor James Casella said he has little sympathy for those who rent illegal apartments.
“If you have an illegal apartment, you are cheating other taxpayers and you are endangering your tenants,” he said. “Having an apartment in the basement or on the third floor creates a death trap for people caught inside if there is a fire in the house.”
Felten said that that the borough wants to be proactive rather than reactive in this situation. Some nearby towns that have been affected by illegal apartments are Morristown and Englewood.
In Morristown, there have been reports of 7-10 people living in one room, which is called “stacking.” This stacking can bring serious consequences as more and more illegal conversions take place.
Last summer in Englewood, two people died in a basement fire as a result of being trapped in a dwelling without proper egress. Proper dimensions for windows and doors is one of the aspects that inspectors look for to ensure proper egress for bedroom or sleeping areas, Brizzi said.
Brizzi also said that illegal apartments adversely affect recreation and parking.
People who legally live on certain streets cannot find parking, Felten said. He added that the police department would like to revise their parking policy to ensure that those who park on the street are residents by issuing permits.
“Illegal apartments have a negative impact on neighborhoods…[creating] a transient population that use our services but produce no tax revenue,” said Brizzi. He added that it is difficult to pinpoint illegal dwellings because a home can be converted into an illegal dwelling in a relatively easy way.
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