Washington Avenue residents, frustrated by ongoing disruptive college parties in their neighborhood, are seeking new tools to deal with the problem.
From public urination to excessively loud partying fueled by alcohol consumption, the problem has continued and a good part of Monday town council meeting was dedicated to looking for some sort of solution.
One idea would be to require rental permits for landlords making them more liable for their tenants’ behavior.
Mayor Chris Cerino noted that over the weekend he received at least 30 emails referring to loud college parties and included the issue on Monday’s agenda.
“Here we are at the beginning of May and the parties continue unabated. I feel like what we’ve been doing hasn’t deterred these students from having fairly large and disruptive parties,” Cerino said.
Cerino asked for input from residents attending the meeting, Chief Baker, Washington College VP of Student Affairs Xavier Cole and the council.
Residents conveyed an urgent need to overhaul the current approach to the issue so that enforcement and punitive fines would also be directed toward landlords.
Currently, if a Washington College student beyond freshman year meets academic and disciplinary standards, off-campus housing is allowed. Dr. Cole mentioned that even with those standards it’s easy for a student to have both a room on campus and chip in on for off-campus housing and avoid appearing on any rental agreement.
Cole said that the most difficult thing for his office is to get accurate information about who is on premises other than listed renters for a rented house.
Chief Baker discussed enforcing the current ordinances for noise and loud parties. Often by the time police arrive to answer a complaint students have already left. If the students are outside of the house or on the sidewalk, Baker says the legal definitions become less clear.
A first-time noise infraction is $100. A separate ordinance describes a first-time loud party fine as $500.
The core argument made during the discussion pointed to a need to initiate a rental permit bylaw process that would make landlords, local and absentee, more liable for noise and disruptive party infractions.
Councilwoman Linda Kuiper pointed out that there were many precedents for college town rental permit processes and that a template for Chestertown could be drawn from these.
Currently, there is no town oversight over landlord-tenant agreements.
Permit suspensions might be one of the ingredients included in the permit process. Combined with law enforcement and the ongoing commitment of Washington College to monitor off-campus student housing, some rental permit system is now considered a primary focus to have in place by next September’s school opening.
An enhanced partnership between the town, college and police, armed with a rental permit mechanism, looks to be a positive step in helping to prevent the use of rental properties for disruptive parties.
In this video residents Tom Clark and David Bowering, describe some of the issues facing local homeowners, and Dr. Xavier Cole, VP of Washington College Student Affairs talks about the College’s relationship to off-campus student rentals.
rachel goss says
I have always felt it was a shame that one potential home buyer/ landlord was not permitted to have a sober-only house for college students. Never understood…
Stephanie Thomas says
And it’s not just homes on Washington Ave that are affected. Student housing on Queen Street causes problems for the homeowners and the businesses. The one house rarely takes the trash to the curb and it just piles up and smells when it gets hot out. Not to mention the broken beer bottles and beer cans thrown in our parking lot. The homeowners have to deal with the parties at night with the loud noise and trash thrown around.
Chris kelsch says
Deeply disappointed in the students who have no respect, also disappointed in enforcement of town regulations already on the books…deeply disappointed
matthew weir says
I lived off campus for three years at WC. I am happy to say that my neighbors and I always got along. I think this is a result of our being respectful of each other’s lives. The is no question that WC students should know how to be respectful, responsible members of a community. If they fail to do so, they should pay the price. Neighbors should not feel held hostage by rowdy neighbors, WC students or otherwise.
However, there are two subtle undertones that I hear that I want to address. The first is that, while bad behavior should never be tolerated, a decade ago, WC students felt driven out of town. Since that time, many residents have been asking for students to come back to town and spend their money. Student activity downtown is an important part of a vibrant, healthy downtown. I fear that the pendulum may swing too far on this issue.
Second, investors who buy real estate in communities and rent them out often keep the homes from being a blight in the neighborhood. Shifting responsibility from tenants to owners may have the side effect of driving away investors. I would hate to see numerous dark, unkept homes in Chestertown’s beautiful communities.
I hope that a balanced outcome will encourage more students to become a part of the Chestertown community. The resident’s of Chestertown are a large part of what makes a WC experience so wonderful.