Students who live off campus and local residents met with the Unrelated Persons and Rental Registration Task Force to discuss parking problems and living situations in TCU-area neighborhoods Thursday at the Botanic Garden.The Fort Worth City Council created the task force to recommend possible solutions to ease escalating tensions between student tenants and local residents around TCU.

The task force was asked to decide if the city should lower the limit of unrelated people living in one home from five to two. With complaints about students blocking driveways and entire streets, the task force was also asked to consider a parking permit option for residents of local neighborhoods.

Martha Jones, of Wabash Avenue, said she wants the city to limit parking in her neighborhood to one side of the road.

“We have college boys living in front and to the side of our house, and we get along just fine, but they drive large trucks or SUVs,” Jones said. “I came home one night from work and my driveway was blocked and the entire street was full.”

Jones said she had to drive around the block until a tow truck was able to come and clear the front of her driveway.

Kristina Poling, a junior political science major, said she is against the proposed idea of limiting the number of unrelated people living in a house or an apartment.

“If they lower the maximum number of people, then that will create more of a demand for the one and two bedroom houses like mine. That will cause the rent to go up, and I am against anything that raises my rent.”

Poling said she doesn’t think government intervention is necessary.

“I think if people just got to know their neighbors and had common courtesy toward each other, a lot of the problems would go away,” Poling said.

Trivly Strong, of Waits Avenue, said she is for the change of the five-person limit since she started having noise complaints after college students moved in behind her.

“I think it should only be two or three (people in each house),” Strong said.

Cohlby Youtsey, a junior education major, said the noise just comes with the location.

“I think it is valid, but you live by a college campus so that goes along with that,” Youtsey said.

Members of the task force said they had not reached a decision yet and would take into account everyone’s thoughts when they send their final decision in February to the City Council, which will decide in March.