BOSTON -- The Boston zoning board unanimously passed a law aimed at reducing student overcrowding of off-campus apartments.

NewsCenter 5's Shiba Russell reported that the zoning amendment prohibits landlords from renting out a single unit to more than four undergraduate students. Hundreds of people for and against the proposal packed a City Hall hearing Wednesday.

Video: Housing Proposal Debated

Opponents called it a backdoor attempt to re-impose rent control, but opponents said it's needed because high rents are forcing families out of neighborhoods.

"Having a lot of students live in one concentrated area -- five, six, seven -- kind of creates a lot of the quality of life issues -- instant parties, lots of cars, lots of late-night activity, but that is not the real issue. The real issue is the economic erosion of a community -- the loss of families who can't compete with that rent," City Councilor Michael Ross said.

"The limitation should be based on the architecture of the building -- not some arbitrary limit that some city councilor cooked up numbers to show that if indeed people are paying these amounts -- there is no market out there. Those are lies. There is no market out there when students are paying $1,000 per head. It simply doesn't exist," property owner Oscar Brookins said.