Texas A&M University students are rallying against a measure that could limit the number of unrelated people living together in one College Station residence.

The City of College Station isn't set to take up the issue until late next month, but already more than 2,000 students have joined an online group fighting against the potential ordinance.

Student leaders also are urging fellow Aggies to register to vote locally so they can cast a ballot in the May 10 municipal elections. And they have set up a campus town hall meeting Thursday that will feature City Council candidates who are running for office.

"Ultimately, students need to think about A&M down the road and how the college experience is going to be for future Aggies," said Tyler Koch, speaker of the Student Senate at Texas A&M.

"We want College Station to remain student-friendly," he said. "We want to maintain good relations with the city. We're just bringing the issues to the forefront of the student body and allowing them to use their vote to make decisions about where they'd like to see the city go."

The concept of limiting the number of unrelated people who live in one household first was considered by the Bryan City Council, who signed off on the zoning classification in 2006. The measure allows residents in each subdivision to request the limit if they have the support of at least two-thirds of their neighbors.

The College Station City Council first considered a similar ordinance last fall when they were briefed on the issue by their counterparts in Bryan.

College Station spokesman Wayne Larson said the city held two daylong workshops this month to gather feedback from residents, as well as A&M students and administrators.

That information is being compiled and will be presented to the City Council during its March 27 workshop.

Larson said the Council specifically asked that the presentation be made after spring break to prevent any decisions from being made while students are out of town and unable to attend the meeting.

"It's a good example of how the City Council and city staff are sensitive to the fact that students are part of this community," Larson said.

The online group fighting against the proposal calls itself "BTHO Housing Ordinance -- GIG THE VOTE!" But Koch was quick to note that the motivation behind the voter registration drive was much more broad. The most important aspect is getting students registered to vote, he said.

A&M students traditionally have made a poor showing in local elections though it's unclear how many of the 46,000 or so students are registered to vote locally. Koch said he estimates a small fraction of the student body makes it to the polls.

What better time to drive students to register than a year when America is electing a new president and the elected officials governing the city in which they live are talking about neighborhood rights, he asked.

To cast a ballot in the upcoming municipal election, students must be registered in Brazos County at least 30 days before early voting starts April 28. Koch said that gives student leaders about one month to encourage their counterparts on campus to register.

Texas A&M students don't sit on the City Council so they can't vote on individual issues, Koch said. But they certainly can help decide who is going to represent them on the council, he said.

"If the city really wants to get an accurate picture of the student body, they're going to get that with the way the students turn out to vote," Koch said. "They understand the future of College Station living, as far as Texas A&M students goes, depends on them and largely on the outcome of the election."

Sophomore Emily Jewell, a member of the Texas A&M's legislative relations committee, was on campus Monday as the registration push kicked off. She and others passed out scads of voter registration cards, though she said there was no way to tell how many students would actually fill out and file the cards.

Jewell said she understands the potential ordinance isn't up for a vote any time soon. But that doesn't matter, she said, adding that they prefer to be prepared rather than wait until it's up for a vote by the council.

That's why it's important to get students involved now -- at the beginning rather than the end of the decision-making process, she said.

"It's a college town with students. No one lives with just one other person," she said, explaining that most students have three, four or even five roommates to share expenses. "To limit to two people is just absurd."

• Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.

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