Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
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We, a coalition of local housing advocates and organizers, including members of Lawrence Mutual Aid Network, People’s Owned and Operated Collective Housing, Sanctuary Alliance and Lawrence Tenants, are deeply troubled by the Lawrence City Commission’s upcoming discussion on a last-minute proposal to lower occupancy limits for renters. Slipped into a Planning Commission meeting without clear public notice, this move undermines years of work on Lawrence’s housing crisis and perpetuates exclusionary zoning that harms renters, low-income residents, and those most at risk of housing violence.
Lawrence Mutual Aid Network thrives on the principle that no one in our city should face adversity alone. Restricting how many people can share a home undercuts that principle, eliminating a vital survival strategy for low-income and precariously housed neighbors. We see daily how families of all kinds — blood-related or chosen — pool groceries, bills and child care to keep one another safe. Occupancy caps effectively criminalize mutual aid, making it harder for people to meet basic needs.
This is precisely the model of People’s Owned and Operated Collective Housing — Ad Astra, Olive House, and Sunflower House — where unrelated folks live cooperatively. We cook together, split bills, and maintain properties collectively. Rents from $469 to $620 include a shared food program and utilities, staying below 65% of HUD’s Fair Market Rate for Douglas County. That’s proof cooperative living works to combat our housing crisis.
Yet exclusionary zoning ordinances now threaten our ability to sustain or grow this model. By targeting unrelated adults, these policies sabotage community-driven solutions.
Sanctuary Alliance successfully pushed Lawrence to adopt sanctuary policies in 2020, reflecting a commitment to keep migrants safe, regardless of status. Occupancy limits would betray that promise, forcing families to break up or risk violating housing codes. We know from Sanctuary Alliance’s work that many immigrant and undocumented residents rely on multigenerational or multifamily living arrangements to survive high rent and limited job access. Occupancy restrictions unravel these communal safety nets. Mutual aid and sanctuary principles mean everyone should live with dignity, free from fear or exploitation. These proposed limits stand in the way of that mission.
The idea that lowering occupancy preserves neighborhood “character” is just thinly veiled exclusionary zoning. Households defined by functionality — multigenerational, intergenerational, or chosen — are the true embodiment of neighborhood character: building community, reducing sprawl, and stabilizing housing costs.
Peer communities like Madison, Wisconsin, recognize the harm in rigid “family” definitions. In 2023, Madison eased occupancy limits to allow up to five unrelated adults per home. Similarly, the Kansas Department for Children and Families defines a household not by marriage or kinship but by function — people who live together, share meals and pool resources.
Meanwhile, our neighbor state, Colorado, eliminated occupancy limits entirely for households sharing expenses in 2024, focusing on square-footage standards, just as Lawrence’s code already does. Layering unrelated-person limits on top of that is redundant and discriminatory, especially if it targets “particular neighborhoods.” Workers, seniors, immigrant families, and those of varying documentation status — already squeezed by rising rents and stagnant wages — will bear the brunt of this regressive policy.
The real threat to Lawrence is not renters, but a code that favors investor interests over people.
We urge our community to oppose this proposal at the Lawrence City Commission meeting at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 18 or by submitting written comments to ccagendas@lawrenceks.org by noon Tuesday. Lawrence needs functional family definitions and policies that expand affordable housing — not backroom deals that shrink it.
Stay informed on future actions and ways to get involved by following Lawrence Tenants (@lawrencetenants) on social media. Let’s stand together for an inclusive, cooperative Lawrence.
— Micha Cox (they/them), Lawrence Mutual Aid Network;
Kincaid Dennett (they/them), People’s Owned and Operated Collective Housing;
Mariel Ferreiro (she/ella), Sanctuary Alliance; and
Gabi Sprague (she/her), Lawrence Tenants
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More Community Voices:
Housing advocates and organizers: Lawrence should say no to occupancy restrictions (Column)
“We see daily how families of all kinds — blood-related or chosen — pool groceries, bills and child care to keep one another safe. Occupancy caps effectively criminalize mutual aid, making it harder for people to meet basic needs,” four local housing advocates write in this column.
Letter to the Times: Occupancy limits are unfair to nontraditional families
“Why should the rest of us have to live with increased housing costs because adults who chose not only to live in a college town, but next to the campus itself, don’t want an increase of students living in the neighborhood?” Chris Flowers writes in this letter to the Times.
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
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