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Oxford City Council plans to review a charter amendment to an ordinance affecting the size requirements for the bedrooms of residential homes and apartments.

The amendment primarily affects student rentals in the Uptown area, and would increase the size requirement from what was previously 70 square feet.

Jung-Han Chen, Oxford's community development director, said efforts are under way to determine the composition of a study group that will examine the effects of the amendment. He said the next meeting of city council will decide the make-up of that study group.

Chen said the group will need to determine what the appropriate objective of the amendment would be for council. The amendment and the corresponding bedroom sizing requirements currently apply to new buildings as well as any existing properties undergoing major renovations or existing properties with new rental permits.

The major motivation for drafting the charter amendment was that "proponents of Issue 20 realized if the (original) amendment was passed, densities would need to be controlled," according to Chen.

While the formation of the study group to review the emergency amendment is under way, one local resident and business owner is unsure what will happen with his first rental property.

Gary Franks, co-owner of Bagel & Deli on High Street, recently moved to a new house with the intention of renting his former home on South College Avenue.

"I had the packet and knew what was required," said Franks, referring to the information packet outlining the various requirements for applying for a rental permit.

Franks wrote the check for his permit just after the city council meeting in October when the charter amendment was added to Ordinance 2980. Franks said the city inspector who examined his property mentioned a new ordinance that affected occupancy, but that his permit should be approved within a week.

"Four weeks later, I stopped to check on it and they said they were working on it," Franks said. When his permit was processed, Franks received a letter approving his house for a two-person occupancy, based on the size of the bedrooms, instead of the four-person capacity he had sought.

Franks is worried the zoning amendment will have a negative impact on the value of his home as any potential buyer would only have a permit to rent for two occupants as opposed to four — the same fate Franks would face if he, instead, keeps the house to rent himself.

As an Uptown business owner, Franks also expressed his concern for limiting population density in an area where many businesses rely on students.

"You would think they (city council) would want more people Uptown for the businesses," Franks said.