Town-gown squabbles are a normal part of life in college towns, but zoning ordinances are a perpetual hot-button issue here in Provo.

"I think overall [students are] a very positive aspect of Provo city," said Todd Roach, planning commission chairman for Provo. "The problem, I guess, with the students in single-family neighborhoods is when you have a large number of single students renting a single-family home."

Provo City Council modified how the family is defined in housing ordinances for a single-family dwelling in August 2003. For "baching singles" - unrelated college students living together in a single-family residential zone - the number of residents was decreased from three students to two in 12 neighborhoods. Town

"The reason for that was simply to encourage neighborhood stability so that you would have fewer single-family homes occupied by numerous unrelated individuals," Roach said. "It becomes a concern for neighbors in that type of an area who take pride in their yards and their communities."

BYU limited its off-campus housing boundaries to a two-mile radius from campus. As of April 30, 2007, all residences beyond the boundaries - roughly from Center Street to 2230 North and 500 West to the mountain on the east - will lose their BYU approval.

Seven of the neighborhoods involved in the definition change lie within the restricted BYU boundaries.

This will limit students to only two in a house if they are strictly renters, or three if one of the roommates owns the house.

"I think that's simply one of the sacrifices we need to make in certain areas of the city in order to try and preserve the family atmosphere of those neighborhoods," Roach said. "I think that's part of living in a democracy. You have to get along; you have to abide by the zoning and the laws that are legislated."

Roach said the city does welcome student input in its meetings and decision-making process.

Provo is not the only college town to face housing issues.

Other college towns of similar size and circumstance to Provo take different approaches to this "town-gown" - city versus student - issue.

In Waco, Texas, home of Baylor University (enrollment 12,000), up to four unrelated singles can live in a single-family residence.

"The majority of [Baylor students] live off campus in apartments that are very close to the university, within a two-mile radius of the university," said Doriss Hambrick, administrative associate to the dean for campus life at Baylor University. "There are a number of houses, but there are fewer and fewer of those as apartments are being built in their place."

Bill Falco, director of planning for the city of Waco, said the dense student population affects the character of the neighborhoods where students reside.

"It pretty much becomes a part of the university," Falco said. "It sort of loses its identity as a ... separate neighborhood for families. Most of the people that live in that area preferably end up moving out once the Baylor students come take over."

Being a college town presents a two-fold issue for residents of Waco.

"[The high-density college population] has created some ill feelings among some people," Falco said. "They feel like they're being forced out of their neighborhoods by Baylor."

On the other hand, the university's increased enrollment has also increased property values around Baylor, Falco said.

"There's been a real building boom," he said. "Lots that maybe five years ago you could buy for $10,000 are now selling for $75,000."

At the University of Notre Dame in South Bend., Ind., 80 percent of the university's 7,800 undergraduates live on campus.

"We probably don't have a lot of the town-gown issues that a lot of other institutions do that have more students living off campus," said Scott Kachmarik, associate director of Resident Life and Housing for Notre Dame.

"About 160-some years ago, the priests decided to do that, and it's something that's followed through," Kachmarik said. "The residentiality is an essential part of the university's mission, and that's part of the living and learning and educating philosophy that's part of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, which founded the university."

Jennifer Hughes, an economic development planner in South Bend, Ind., said Notre Dame is in a unique situation.

"Notre Dame is kind of isolated as a campus," Hughes said. "They very much encourage on-campus living as part of their mission as a university."

Although ordinances restrict the number of students in a single-family dwelling, Hughes said it hasn't been much of an issue.

"It hasn't been contested," she said. "It's pretty well enforced. There haven't been significant problems with that."

Kachmarik said having most students residing on campus has decreased friction between students and residents.

"If you can have fewer students living in the community, you'll have fewer problems than if you had more students living in the community," Kachmarik said.

"The bad interactions ... [have] to do with living issues, where you have students living next door to a family," Kachmarik said. "Let's face it - you've got different lifestyles."

"A lot of those issues tend to come up ... where there's parties and late-night activities, and those kinds of things that cause bad perceptions of college students," he said.

"When you just have students who are in the community using restaurants or shopping or those kinds of things, you tend not to have those bad interactions - as many, anyway," he said.



Copyright Brigham Young University 24 May 2004