Despite Public Ridicule, Watertown, NY, Keeps Roommate Ban

But officials say they probably won't enforce it, which makes all the difference, right?

Christine M. Williams was not persuaded by the City Council's argument on Monday night that the city should keep a recently amended zoning change regarding whether roommates should be able to live in single-family homes.

Attending the standing-room-only meeting, she argued with Councilman Jeffrey M. Smith whether residents could simply get around the zoning change through a variety of loopholes. Mr. Smith contended that council members had no intention of defining the modern family.

"If you don't plan on enforcing it, why have it on the books?" said West Ten Eyck Street resident Cody J. Horbacz, who lives with his girlfriend, Jennifer Zecher, and their 4-year-old daughter.