Councilwoman, fraternities say neighborhood relations tense
A new ordinance was signed into law on Nov. 19 that will allow police to "padlock" or effectively shut down houses for a year that have received more than two complaints over six month period.
"We're writing letters first to landlords who own houses that are the site of serious illegal crimes, including drug dealing and underage drinking. We hope that giving these landlords a warning will be the best way to fix existing problems," Clarke said.
Despite the decrease in complaints, some students are still experiencing repeated calls from neighbors and local police regarding noise violations and have become frustrated at what they see as unreasonable expectations on the part of community residents.
Ongoing conflicts between fraternities and their neighbors seem to be occurring with fraternities that own or rent houses in particularly residential or quieter neighborhoods. Both the Alpha Epsilon Pi house and the Lambda Phi Epsilon house have received many more noise complaints than usual this year after moving houses, and members of both think it is due to neighbors who may be unaccustomed to living with noisier neighbors.
Students living in off-campus housing have tried to integrate themselves better with their neighbors, Bennett said, and have tried to become active and socially responsible members of their communities.
Marc Porosoff, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, located near the 300 block of East University Parkway, noted that "under some guidance from the University we have tried hard to reach out to the community and join their association, but we have received little in return. It feels like no matter how much we do for the neighborhood, there will always be a few people who we cannot reach out to."
Bennett said that "Some groups have joined their neighborhood associations; many have participated in local clean-up efforts and volunteer opportunities. I have also noticed that, in my casual conversations with community members, I hear less mention about problems with specific Greek organizations or Greek life in general."
"We're writing letters first to landlords who own houses that are the site of serious illegal crimes, including drug dealing and underage drinking. We hope that giving these landlords a warning will be the best way to fix existing problems," Clarke said.
Despite the decrease in complaints, some students are still experiencing repeated calls from neighbors and local police regarding noise violations and have become frustrated at what they see as unreasonable expectations on the part of community residents.
Ongoing conflicts between fraternities and their neighbors seem to be occurring with fraternities that own or rent houses in particularly residential or quieter neighborhoods. Both the Alpha Epsilon Pi house and the Lambda Phi Epsilon house have received many more noise complaints than usual this year after moving houses, and members of both think it is due to neighbors who may be unaccustomed to living with noisier neighbors.
Students living in off-campus housing have tried to integrate themselves better with their neighbors, Bennett said, and have tried to become active and socially responsible members of their communities.
Marc Porosoff, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, located near the 300 block of East University Parkway, noted that "under some guidance from the University we have tried hard to reach out to the community and join their association, but we have received little in return. It feels like no matter how much we do for the neighborhood, there will always be a few people who we cannot reach out to."
Bennett said that "Some groups have joined their neighborhood associations; many have participated in local clean-up efforts and volunteer opportunities. I have also noticed that, in my casual conversations with community members, I hear less mention about problems with specific Greek organizations or Greek life in general."
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Tom
posted 12/03/07 @ 11:02 AM EST
Indeed, it is ridiculous to deal constantly with the same problem. That is why Charles Village residents need to face the fact that they chose to live in a college neighborhood. (Continued…)
Sarah
posted 12/17/07 @ 8:40 AM EST
While I enjoy what must be sarcasm and humor in Tom's position, I think he forgot to say what he was really thinking: That paying $600 a month in rent doesn't qualify as an investment in the neighborhood worth an opinion, that Charles Village does NOT in fact belong to college students as their silly entitled selves seem to think, and that he's very, very sorry for misrepresenting his highly educated peers. (Continued…)
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