No place like home

Segregating students to certain sectors of town discriminatory

Next week, the State College Borough Council will vote on an ordinance that could have an impact on many future generations of University students.

Yes, the borough council will vote on whether or not to approve the zoning amendment for the Highlands area of State College Borough.

This proposed ordinance discriminates against a specific population of State College residents -- University students. It would allow students to only live in a particular area of State College Borough.

"Where is the University administration in all of these discussions?"

The Highlands neighborhood is roughly that area between South Atherton Street, Easterly Parkway, University Drive and Beaver Avenue.

The council wants to restrict the neighborhood into specific districts. When council members talk about these districts, they will probably refer to the codes, so here's a guideline of what they are.

It should be noted, though, that the present buildings will not be changed in the proposed amendment.

R-2 -- This is a residential district for single-family homes or duplexes.
R-3 -- This follows the same guidelines as R-2, but adds on fraternity and sorority houses, as well as multi-family dwellings that do not exceed six units.
R3-H -- This follows the same guidelines as R-3, but multi-family dwellings cannot exceed four units. This is to provide a "density transition" between the previous two districts.
RO -- This is a residential office district that allows everything that's allowed in R-3 but adds offices, rooming houses and other small-scale businesses.
RO-A -- The same guidelines that apply to RO apply here; however, a multi-unit building may only have three units and not exceed two bedrooms per unit.

Although it is understandable that the borough council wants to preserve a good atmosphere in the Highlands, it is not understandable why the preservation has to include discriminating against students.

If some residents feel students are noisy and bothersome in their neighborhood, they also should remember there are students who want the peace and quiet that other residents want. Those students should be allowed to live in the neighborhoods that are away from the more student-filled areas.

But the borough council shouldn't have to take the brunt of all the students' anger and protest against the discriminatory proposed ordinance, either. Where is the University administration in all of these discussions?

The administration needs to get more involved in this debate, and take steps to improve the student housing situation. The problem lies in Penn State's getting more and more students, and the areas allotted for students getting filled faster and faster.

But for now, students need to tell borough council members to stop this proposed discriminatory ordinance from becoming reality.

The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. April 6 in the Municipal Building, 118 S. Fraser St. If you care where you -- and future Penn Staters -- are allowed to live, show up and let borough council know.