Humble City Council voted unanimously last Thursday to ban unauthorized shared-living homes in residential neighborhoods, targeting properties where individual rooms are rented under separate leases rather than a single household. Council member Mike Marshall was absent.
As reported by the City of Humble meeting documents, the rules apply to buildings with three or more sleeping rooms rented separately and to situations where residents “do not function as a single house unit.” That includes homes with individual leases, locked bedrooms, and shared kitchens or bathrooms.
The City of Humble set occupancy rules limiting homes to four unrelated adults, two adults per bedroom, and at least 150 square feet per occupant, requiring a city permit for any shared-living operation in residential zones. Violators face fines of $500 to $2,000 per day. City Manager Jason Stuebe said such setups, which are not hotels, boarding homes, or apartment buildings, have raised life-safety concerns, with some houses having up to 13 individually rented rooms in under 2,000 square feet, straining fire and building codes…