The Syracuse Common Council voted Monday to move forward with a proposed ordinance to limit student housing in the university neighborhood. The council appropriated about $3,500 toward an environmental impact assessment of the ordinance.

An EIA is required whenever a change to city zoning codes is proposed, said Khalid Bey, 4th district Syracuse common councilor. The proposed ordinance would alter the zoning code by creating a new “student residence” category in order to regulate the spread of student housing. The new category would be defined as three to five students living in one residence, he said.

The EIA marks the next step in what has been a continuing debate about the ordinance, which was proposed by Bey and the Southeast University Neighborhood Association in February. SEUNA members support the ordinance and its efforts to curb the spread of student housing and prevent landlords from converting single-family homes into rental properties for students. But the Syracuse Property Owners Association and area landlords have argued against its passage.

“It’s bad law thrown at the wall, hoping that it sticks,” said Joe Tupper, president of SPOA, noting that courts overturned at least two past ordinances that sought to regulate student housing.

Hocherman, Tortorella and Wekstein attorneys-at-law drafted a letter on behalf of SPOA detailing opposition to the proposed ordinance. The letter, dated March 5, was delivered to the Syracuse Common Council, Tupper said.

In addition to calling for an EIA, the letter states the proposed ordinance violates the “uniformity requirement” of the zoning code, which prohibits the city from applying different regulations to residences that are “physically and functionally identical.” It also claims a violation of the constitutional right to privacy, as the proposed ordinance calls for a registry of student-renters’ names and academic institutions.

Although SEUNA maintains the ordinance will pass based on the fact that similar ordinances have been passed and upheld in courts in at least 13 municipalities, Tupper said subtle and significant differences exist in the ordinance currently proposed for Syracuse.

Money would be wasted on litigation if the ordinance passes, he said.

“I don’t understand why councilors who represent other parts of the city don’t question why all the legal money and expenses are being used to defend the special neighborhood district when other parts of the city are in the such distress,” he said.

Additionally, the university neighborhood represents a significant tax base for the city.

“Economically, I think it’s a mistake to limit students in off-campus neighborhoods,” said Gregg Tweedy, an area landlord.

Houses would remain empty if landlords were prohibited to rent to students, he added, which would invite rodents and crime.

In an email to SEUNA members, President Michael Stanton encouraged members to apply pressure on common council members to approve the appropriation of funds through phone calls and their physical presence at Monday’s council meeting.

The assessment should last between two and four weeks, he said. A hearing before a planning commission and then before the common council would follow.

The ordinance is intended to maintain the status quo in the neighborhood, Stanton said in an interview in February, as students have been moving closer to campus in recent years.

Published on April 1, 2013 at 10:35 pm