A
Cobb
County
ordinance
designed
to
stop
college
students
flowing
into
residential
neighborhoods
unintentionally
limits
gay
couples
renting
out
rooms
or
taking
in
roommates.
Counties
throughout
the
metro
area
cite
similar
policies.
“The
devil
can
be
in
the
details
about
these
things,”
said
Greg
Nevins,
an
attorney
for
Lambda
Legal
in
Atlanta.
“And
that
can
really
highlight
the
fact
that
these
bills
are
fraught
with
unintended
consequences.”
As
Kennesaw
State
University
grew
into
the
third
largest
college
in
Georgia,
so
did
the
number
of
students
looking
to
escape
quiet
hours,
co-habitation
policies
and
no
keg
rules.
Investors
bought
up
homes
to
rent
to
a
half
dozen
or
more
college
students
at
a
time
in
two
subdivisions
north
of
the
college.
Worried
about
students
living
in
de
facto
dorms
in
their
neighborhoods,
homeowners
worked
with
the
Cobb
County
Commission
to
craft
an
ordinance
to
prohibit
boarding
houses
in
residential
neighborhoods.
The
ordinance,
passed
last
year,
decrees
only
two
unrelated
adults
can
live
in
a
home.
Gay
and
lesbian
couples
are
not
recognized
as
related
under
Georgia
law,
so
Cobb’s
ordinance
means
they
can
not
take
in
friends
or
let
out
rooms.
The
policy
goes
into
effect
May
8,
three
days
after
KSU’s
end
of
term.
At
a
Feb.
19
commission
meeting,
Colleen
Anzalone
was
one
of
13
residents
who
supported
turning
down
exemptions
to
the
ordinance
for
two
houses
yards
from
KSU’s
northern
border.
“Really
it
comes
down
to
no
more
than
two
unrelated
people
can
live
together
in
Cobb
County,”
she
said.
Cobb
County
Commission
Chairman
Sam
Olens
appeared
surprised
when
asked
if
the
policy
unfairly
affects
the
more
than
1,300
gay
couples
in
Cobb
reported
in
the
2000
U.S.
Census.
Cobb
County
commission
Chairman
Sam
Olens
said
the
county
had
not
considered
that
an
ordinance
aimed
at
college
students
could
also
limit
options
for
gay
couples.
(Photo
courtesy
Cobb
County)
“Literally,
throughout
the
entire
time
we
worked
on
the
ordinance,
your
comment
today
is
the
first
time
we’ve
heard
of
anything
from
this
area,”
Olens
said
after
the
meeting.
“It
was
never
part
of
a
complaint
from
the
public.
Today
is
the
first
time
I’ve
heard
about
it.”
There
are
no
active
gay
political
groups
in
Cobb
County,
and
Georgia
Equality,
the
state’s
largest
gay
activist
group,
was
unaware
of
the
ordinance
during
its
drafting
stages.
“Obviously
there
is
a
list
of
priorities
for
Georgia
Equality,
but
we’re
a
small
organization,”
Political
Director
Kyle
Bailey
said.
Olens
said
the
policy
is
not
intended
to
affect
gay
couples,
but
admitted
it
could
be
interpreted
that
way.
“One
can
always
look
at
an
ordinance
and
figure
out
where
it
could
cause
problems
for
people
who
were
never
considered
process-wise,”
he
said.
“We
did
the
best
we
could.”
Anzalone
never
considered
the
policy’s
broader
impact.
After
the
meeting,
when
asked
if
the
policy
equated
to
a
double
standard
for
gay
and
lesbian
couples,
she
said
she
didn’t
have
the
answer.
“It
appears
that
you
feel
like
you
have
less
options
than
straight
couples,
and
I
don’t
really
know
what
to
tell
you,”
she
said.
“It
sounds
like
a
special
case
that
would
have
to
be
addressed
by
Chairman
Olens
and
the
board.”
Other
metro
communities
either
have
similar
ordinances
on
the
books
or
are
working
on
developing
their
own.
Like
Cobb
County,
the
city
of
Doraville
limits
residences
to
two
unrelated
adults.
Openly
gay
Doraville
City
Councilmember
Brian
Bates
researched
the
city’s
policy
and
said
it
needs
to
change.
“The
intention
is
to
address
the
overcrowding
of
a
people
living
in
a
particular
house,
and
part
of
the
problem
was
in
thinking
through
all
the
permeations
of
how
it
could
be
interpreted,”
Bates
said.
“It
frankly
was
never
conceived
of
how
it
could
have
a
negative
effect
on
gay
couples.”
Athens,
home
to
the
University
of
Georgia,
also
cites
policies
that
could
make
it
illegal
for
a
gay
couple
to
have
a
roommate.
Mayor
Heidi
Davison
says
it
can
be
tough
to
apply.
“It
is
a
difficult
ordinance
to
enforce,
but
if
an
officer
has
evidence
that
more
than
two
unrelated
adults
are
living
in
a
home
we
take
action,”
she
said.
Other
metro
area
housing
policies
present
fewer
problems
to
gay
couples
because
they
allow
a
higher
number
of
“unrelated
adults”
per
household.
In
2006,
Roswell
City
Attorney
Bob
Hulsey
helped
draft
the
...
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