The Ames City Council began the process Tuesday of putting meat on the bones of a new rental housing code. The move comes in the wake of a state law change that no longer allows the city to use family relationships to regulate occupancy. The council backed a plan that ties occupancy and off-street parking to the number of bedrooms in a rental property, and sets the cap of occupants at five. The changes needed to be made before the state law takes affect Jan. 1st. The council's also imposed a six-month moritorium on new rental permits to buy time to make broader rental property changes.