The Stockbridge City Council voted January 26 to approve a moratorium on the acceptance of any applications related to the development of any buildings for residential rental purposes.

This action, which was added to the agenda at the meeting, was in response to a developer’s recent decision to sell an 80-home neighborhood, in which many of the homes have yet to be constructed, to a single buyer.

According to reports, an investment company purchased an entire new subdivision before many of the homes were sold or even built, with the intention of turning the whole neighborhood into a rental community.

“Outrageous” was the word used by mayor pro tem Elton Alexander in a social media post about the move. “Imagine if you bought one of the first five homes in the subdivision and then the developer sold the remaining 80 homes to a rental company. In effect they are putting a detached apartment complex in the middle of a residential single family owner occupied community.”

Alexander’s motion passed 5-0.

In other business, the council passed a measure allocating $1,500 to Falcon Design for a review of the master plan for the city’s amphitheater that is still under construction. The purpose of the review is to find and suggest potential ridesharing dropoff and pickup areas around the facility.

The council approved a contract for $2,207 per month regarding the installation of a new phone system. The current system was initially installed in 2009 with an upgrade in 2012 and has served its useful life, according to officials.

An agenda item related to consideration of the establishment of new voting precincts was tabled