The development ordinance has been under heavy review since Chapel Hill placed a de facto moratorium on development within the town to concentrate on drafting the document. The development ordinance lays out the guidelines for all development and usage of properties within town limits.
Mark Patmore, a Chapel Hill landlord and organizer of the recently formed Chapel Hill Landlords' Association, said the ordinance has several provisions within it that attack students without naming them specifically.
"These changes are going to affect students," he said. "We're going to collect our rent no matter what. The students are the ones getting screwed."
The changes Patmore alluded to are several points within the 300-page development ordinance, the most severe of which is a limit on the number of unrelated people who can occupy one house.
The law currently on the books states that no more than four unrelated people are allowed to occupy a residence. The limit has not been heavily enforced in town except in the event of a complaint.
Another major change to the laws would limit the number of people in a duplex to no more than four unrelated people. This applies to the entire duplex, not just one side.
While there are several groups of people that would feel the effect of such regulations, the largest of them in the Chapel Hill area is off-campus students.
Patmore said that if these changes are instituted, they would put hundreds of students out of their homes. "Rents would have to go up, and urban sprawl would not be reduced but in fact promoted as students move farther from campus."
Town Council member Mark Kleinschmidt said his aversion to the idea will not go unheard Sept. 16 when the council discusses the ordinance again.