Another new College Station city council discusses rental housing overoccupancy

This podcast contains comments from the February 27, 2025 College Station city council meeting.Another generation of College Station city council members are educated about the decades old problem of more than four unrelated residents living under the same roof.Takeaways from a two and a half hour discussion at Thursday's council meeting (February 27) included staff being directed to increase enforcement efforts and investigate options for parking restrictions in affected neighborhoods.Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the city of College Station.Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the group "Occupancy Enforcement Alliance".A council majority believes some Texas A&M students are violating the Aggie Code of Honor by knowingly violating the ordinance. That was based in part on an affected homeowner telling the council she overheard a group of students and their presumed parents laugh about the overoccupancy ordinance.There was also discussion about proposed state legislation that would do away with most of a city's power to regulate overoccupancy.Councilwoman Melissa McIlhaney said the staff of the author of Senate Bill 1567 thought cities were entering homes "counting toothbrushes", while local residents "think we're not doing enough".Mayor John Nichols was also interested in prosecuting owners of rental properties who violate the portion of the city's rental registration agreement that says they will abide by occupancy limits.