The Bryan City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday night that limits the number of unrelated adults able to rent a home together to two people.
“The ordinance is in effect immediately,” said Mary Lynne Stratta, Bryan city secretary.
All existing claims are considered legally non-conforming and are permitted to remain until such time they lose their “grandfathering” right.
The grandfather clause allows property owners to continue to rent out a home to four tenants until fewer than four reside in the property, or until the property has been used for something other than a rental property for more than a year.
Any Bryan neighborhood that wants to be involved in the rezoning can participate. A petition must be created and submitted with 66 percent of the neighborhood’s population signing in support of the change.
“Even though the ordinance passed, there are many portions of the community that may not adopt this ordinance,” said Ben Hardeman, a council member.
The city will see an impact, but not a positive one, said Jeff Murray, external affairs officer for the Student Government Association. The Student Senate conducted a survey of 486 students chosen at random and of those surveyed, 380 lived off campus, he said.
“About 5,000 students could be affected by this decision,” Murray said. “It will be a negative effect in the long run.”
Teamwork will greatly assist students and citizens in overcoming the ordinance change, said Jason Blenski, a city council member.
“We are encouraging neighborhoods and students to work together to overcome these problems,” Blenski said. “The city will do whatever it can do to help.”
Students and community members should work together rather than divide on issues like the zoning ordinance, said Jimmy Widmer, a sophomore biomedical science major and off-campus senator for the SGA.
“The relationship between the students and the community has become polarized,” Widmer said.