The Baltimore County Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would restrict the number of rental licenses within one mile of Towson University.

The legislation creates a “Neighborhood Preservation District” that prevents county officials from issuing rental licenses to properties on blocks where rentals already account for 30% or more of the properties. Councilman Mike Ertel, a Democrat who represents Towson and lives close to the university, said he proposed the measure to address a problem he’s heard about since he began work as a community activist decades ago.

The legislation establishes a pilot program that will last until June 30, 2029, at which time the council member representing the area will present a report to the council on its effectiveness. The county’s Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections must create a map and database of the district and affected properties by the end of May.

Ertel offered some amendments to make the bill more palatable to some of his colleagues, including Councilman Julian Jones, who expressed reservations about telling homeowners what they can do with their properties.

The amendments specify that the restrictions do not apply to houses that have not had a rental license issued within six years, and for owner-occupied homes that have been on the market for 12 months or more, provided the property will only be rented for no more than one three-year term.

Ertel said these provisions allow professors and graduate students at Towson to rent out homes if they take temporary sabbaticals or positions out of state but want to keep their properties.

Towson University has seen rising demand for student housing as more students want to live on or near campus and avoid commuting.

The university, which has been adding housing and working with developers to add more, has not opposed the legislation. Neither did the Maryland Multi-Housing Association, a spokesperson said, because it represents apartment communities for the most part. Ertel clarified that the legislation does not affect multifamily apartment buildings.

The measure will largely affect smaller landlords and larger, national ones that are buying up single-family homes to rent them out.

President Donald Trump has complained about institutional investors squeezing first-time homebuyers out of the market by bidding up the price of homes, and he has asked Congress to legislate against that. It’s a particular problem in Towson, where nearly 20,000 students attend the university and out-of-state landlords have been snapping up old homes and adding bedrooms and parking pads where yards used to be, Ertel said.

Such renovations can lead to dangerous conditions. In January 2006, a fire in College Park killed University of Maryland student David Ellis, who could not escape his converted basement apartment. That prompted College Park to introduce tighter rental restrictions.

It’s not just residential neighborhoods that are grappling with out-of-town landlords. Towson’s commercial landlords are often out-of-town firms that aren’t invested in the community.

In the past few years, for example, all of the restaurants at Towson Square have closed, and the Indianapolis-based owner, Kite Realty, has not found replacement tenants. The vacancies have frustrated Towson leaders for nearly a year.

Sarah Judd, who has lived in Towson Manor Village since 2018, testified she’d hoped the house next door would sell to a young family like hers. Instead, she said, an investor bought it, and he was showing it to four college students last month.

“My luck hasn’t run out — it’s been bought out," she said. “The only people who can afford to buy these amazing, well-priced small homes are investors — people with multiple properties, built-up equity, and no real stake in the community."

Justin Levy, who owns The Music Space, said the families who move to Towson, whether they buy or rent, invest in the community. They shop downtown, enroll their children in music lessons, and frequent the local library.

“Neighborhoods are not meant to be financial instruments,” Levy told the council. “They’re the foundation of a town. If Towson becomes a place where only investors can buy and everyone else just cycles through, then our schools lose, our businesses lose, and our neighborhoods lose.”