College Station city council split vote on defining family in shared housing ordinance

This podcast contains comments from the November 24, 2025 College Station city council meeting.The College Station city council takes almost one hour at its last meeting to redefine family in the city's ordinance governing the designation of shared housing.That had to be done to comply with a new state law that restricts the mention of familial status.Click HERE to read and download presentation materials from the November 24, 2025 College Station city council meeting.A draft definition that the council approved on a 5-2 vote, which will be finalized at a future meeting, defines a family for housing purposes as "any number of persons occupying a single dwelling unit, including but not limited to those related by blood, marriage, adoption, guardianship or dependency.”Supporting the motion made by Bob Yancy and seconded by Melissa McIlhaney were William Wright, David White, and Scott Shafer.Voting no were Mayor John Nichols and councilman Mark Smith.