CHAPEL HILL - "Now" was the operative word of the Northside community Monday, as the Town Council moved to freeze all building permits in the neighborhood.

Against the recommendation of town staff, the council unanimously approved a resolution to consider a moratorium on new development in the Northside and Pine Knolls neighborhoods.

A public hearing on the moratorium is scheduled for June 20, and the council could choose to officially enact it June 27.

The moratorium is a response to a petition submitted last month from Sustaining OurSelves, a coalition that includes the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP and St. Joseph's CME church.

The coalition asked the town to evaluate the Northside Neighborhood Conservation District; a set of distinct zoning rules regulating how new houses are built.

Residents, community groups, developers and town staff said the NCD rules, meant to preserve the community's character, are not working.

The Planning Department agreed, but suggested a collaborative work-group instead of a moratorium to find solutions.

"We're really interested in finding other ways to address this issue, " said planner Rae Buckley. "We think that we can do a lot to have an impact ... if we can do a better job looking at what we have on the books and enforcing that,' she said.

But the Northside residents and the council said a moratorium is needed to put development on hold while the town and community find ways to close the NCD's loopholes.

A half dozen residents spoke in favor of a moratorium and new rules to curb rental development.

"I think everybody recognizes something needs to happen and happen fast," said Hudson Vaughan, associate director of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, which works to preserve the history of Northside. "Waiting all the way until September would mean a really horrific summer for a lot of those at-risk properties."

About 30 percent of the properties in Northside are owner-occupied, according to the Jackson Center. Most of the rest have been bought and resold within the last 10 years, Vaughan said.

The council largely agreed a moratorium was needed to stop development that is destroying the fabric of the neighborhood.

"While I do think it will take more than zoning changes to forestall the changes ... a moratorium is a way to give us time to decide what those changes will be," said council member Donna Bell, who lives in Northside and own two properties, one that she rents.

"The things that are being developed currently do not support the ideas of it continuing to be a family-oriented neighborhood," she said. "What we as a community are saying is that we need to develop some new rules and some new boundaries."

The NCD prohibits new duplexes; limits houses to 2,000 square feet and restricts front-yard parking and driveway areas to 25 percent of the front yard, in most cases.

The town says it has not approved any duplexes since the NCD was approved in 2004. Duplexes built before then or that were under way when the NCD was approved are allowed.