ASMSU passed a bill Thursday denouncing an East Lansing City Council ordinance that restricts the conversion of houses into rental properties.

Under Ordinance No. 1035C, East Lansing neighborhoods can petition against any new rental housing additions with a two-thirds vote.

"(This ordinance) has problems that relate to a battle of equality between students and permanent residents," said Derek Wallbank, representative for the Council for Students with Disabilities and Student Assembly. "It doesn't define what neighborhoods are and doesn't allow for the protection of rights for non-property owners."

East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows supports the ordinance that moves to create separate housing districts within the city.

"This doesn't reduce the amount of rental housing in East Lansing for students, but the bill makes sure existing rental housing cannot be affected," he said.

MSU's undergraduate student government's bill will advise the East Lansing City Council to replace the ordinance with an alternative form of zoning management that does not discriminate against students.

Last year, MSU's undergraduate student government was involved in a similar controversy when East Lansing created a new noise ordinance that included jail time for party-noise misdemeanors.

To seek changes, members sent recommendations for the ordinance after it had passed into law. But these yielded little revision in the noise policies.

Wallbank admits the zoning ordinance may follow the same path as the noise ordinance has, with no major revisions in spite of recommendations from ASMSU and other student groups.

"All decisions are finally up to City Council," he said. "I don't hold too much hope to them making a change when ASMSU says they don't like it."

ASMSU representatives and the University Student Commission challenged the ordinance before it was passed into law, but Wallbank said it was fruitless.

"(The council) was so determined to get it done they didn't listen to the USC when they made recommendations against it," said Wallbank, who referred to the zoning ordinance as "1780s democracy."

Meadows said students' voices were fairly represented in the process of drafting the ordinance.

"They were very involved in the process - ultimately changes were made that added some of the issues raised by ASMSU, USC and the landlords themselves," he said.

"Part of the problem is that once your six months are in, you forget the changes that were made in the first place."

Political science and pre-law sophomore Jamaal Parker said she supports ASMSU's pro-student stance.

"I think they're doing the right thing," she said.

"They're voicing the opinions of the students.

"We should have a say as to what goes on."

Staff writer Erica Pluff contributed to this report.