Council's plans could limit student options

Students looking for off-campus living may find their options limited next semester. At a work session Friday, State College Borough Council members unanimously agreed to move forward with legislation that would restrict student rentals.

The council is looking at two ordinances. The first would place space separation requirements on student rentals of one- and two-family homes. The legislation would limit new conversions but have no effect on existing rentals.

The second ordinance would limit the occupancy of town houses to three unrelated persons. This ordinance also would not affect current rentals.

One of the problems these ordinances are supposed to fix is the excessive noise in single-family houses that have been converted to student units, said Peter Marshall, borough manager of State College. This noise is a major problem, he said.

"We're just keeping neighborhoods from being totally saturated with student housing," he said. "It doesn't keep it from happening. It just keeps it from happening in one place."

The council intends to cap the number of licenses given to convert one- or two-family homes to houses occupied by two or more unrelated college students. The borough is separated into three main residential zoning districts: rural, residential and commercial.

In rural zones, student homes would have to be separated by 240 feet. In residential zones, the limit would be 225 feet and in commercial zones, where most students live, the limit would be 150 feet.

"It seems as if a lot of other deeply researched options haven't worked. We should at least try this," said council member Jean McManis. "If there are fewer choices, (for student living) then there are fewer choices."

Protecting the "ambiance" of neighborhoods is crucial, McManis said. The ordinances cite "problems with respect to noise, property maintenance, parking and life-style conflicts," as reasons for the student-housing legislation, she said.

The second ordinance would curtail the conversion of town houses into student rentals, limiting the number of unrelated persons living in a town house to three. This makes town house living less probable for student use because most local town house design provides for at least five occupants.

The council discussed the legislation with Undergraduate Student Government President Sharon Entenberg and USG Vice President Ed Kilpela. Borough Council President Tom Daubert said USG planned to design a counterproposal.

"As of two weeks later we've had no communication. (Entenberg) said Ed Kilpela was going to get back to us but he never got back to me . . ." Daubert said.

However, Kilpela said Daubert had not returned his phone calls.

"The only reason the ordinance can be passed is because students aren't a protected class," Kilpela said. "Some of the areas they're saying students should live in are completely infeasible for students to live in."

The USG Department of Town Affairs is investigating the town house legislation, Entenberg said. But she does not think these ordinances will effectively limit noise.

"To my knowledge we had a couple of weeks to mull over things and we're still using those weeks," she said. "Actually, if you look at the numbers and where they want to limit the housing, it's really only going to affect a few students."

The Borough Council plans to hold a public hearing to discuss the ordinances on March 17.