At the June 12 open forum residents from the Indian Springs neighborhood and nearby streets urged Williamsburg leaders to take stronger action against property owners and management companies that convert single‑family houses into high‑occupancy student rentals.

Speakers said the problems are recurring and cumulative. Dennis Hines described repeated disruptive behavior, problems with landlords and “revolving door” occupancies. Henry Hart called for the council to implement the neighborhood‑preservation goals in the city comprehensive plan and described a prior property that had been used as an outdoor dump. Suzanne Livingston and other speakers said a current proposal to build two additional student‑oriented rental houses behind the Hornsby House and to use the Hornsby House itself as student housing would concentrate at least 12 more students on a dangerous bend in the road, increasing parking pressure and party activity.

Lindsay Barna, who teaches at William & Mary, described students as a vulnerable population in rental disputes and recounted reports she receives from students about hazardous housing conditions, open sewage in crawl spaces, rodent or insect infestations and fees imposed by management companies when residents report plumbing or sewage problems. Diane Jacobson and Missy Carr displayed photographs of an outdoor party that blocked streets and raised concerns about emergency vehicle access; Jacobson said she feared a fall from a roof during such events and asked the council to consider liability consequences. Bill Carr and Sabrina Fairbanks urged policy changes such as higher parking‑decals or renter fees, steeper fines for repeated offenses, limits on new houses built expressly for student rentals, restriction or elimination of shared‑parking arrangements, and requiring landlords to screen for sex offenders and notify neighbors if there is a match.

Speakers repeatedly requested that the city enforce existing noise, occupancy and maintenance codes and consider targeted regulations for student rental properties, such as minimum house size for unrelated‑person occupancy, minimum distances between student rentals and stricter parking controls. Several speakers asked the city to hold landlords financially accountable for repeated calls for police or emergency response.

Ending: Council did not take policy action at the meeting but heard the extended open‑forum record and will consider these neighborhood concerns in future planning and enforcement discussions.