2008 Woodie Awards
Plans in motion to address off-campus housing
Benjamin Pomerance
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News
Originally published: 2/14/08 at 4:42 PM EST
Last update: 2/14/08 at 4:41 PM EST
As the spring semester gets underway at Plattsburgh State, a unique kind of spring cleaning is on the minds of certain Plattsburgh public officials.
Plagued with complaints from downtown Plattsburgh residents regarding various problems surrounding off-campus student housing locations, Plattsburgh Mayor Donald Kasprzak and the City of Plattsburgh Building Inspector's Office are already making plans to increase surveillance of off-campus housing locations this spring.
More frequent examinations by building inspectors and increased fines for students and landlords who are repeat offenders of city building codes are among the heightened measures planned to be enforced for the new semester.
The changes, Kasprzak said, are long overdue.
"These are decades-old issues," Kasprzak said. "And, you know, there is a problem when you're living next door to a student housing location with an old couch out in the yard, or beer cans littered all over the place, or shoes tied to the electrical wires. It interferes with the quality of living for people living near these places, and it diminishes the value of the entire neighborhood. That's something residents of the City of Plattsburgh shouldn't have to deal with."
Punitive measures, the mayor continued, are not the goal of the City of Plattsburgh. Most off-campus students, he said, are fine, law-abiding citizens who blend in with the area in which they reside. Yet with many constituents raising valid issues about college apartments in their neighborhoods, particularly the "Center City" quarter surrounding college housing-heavy Brinkerhoff and Court streets, Kasprzak said he had no choice but to take a new course of action.
"I was a college student, and I had plenty of good times, and the last thing I want to do is to ruin the good times of students at Plattsburgh State," Kasprzak said. "But, at the same time, I don't want Plattsburgh State students ruining the ability of city residents to live the way they want to. So we're going to make some changes, and if that ends up meaning some people get some pretty stiff fines, then that's what it will have to mean."
Plagued with complaints from downtown Plattsburgh residents regarding various problems surrounding off-campus student housing locations, Plattsburgh Mayor Donald Kasprzak and the City of Plattsburgh Building Inspector's Office are already making plans to increase surveillance of off-campus housing locations this spring.
More frequent examinations by building inspectors and increased fines for students and landlords who are repeat offenders of city building codes are among the heightened measures planned to be enforced for the new semester.
The changes, Kasprzak said, are long overdue.
"These are decades-old issues," Kasprzak said. "And, you know, there is a problem when you're living next door to a student housing location with an old couch out in the yard, or beer cans littered all over the place, or shoes tied to the electrical wires. It interferes with the quality of living for people living near these places, and it diminishes the value of the entire neighborhood. That's something residents of the City of Plattsburgh shouldn't have to deal with."
Punitive measures, the mayor continued, are not the goal of the City of Plattsburgh. Most off-campus students, he said, are fine, law-abiding citizens who blend in with the area in which they reside. Yet with many constituents raising valid issues about college apartments in their neighborhoods, particularly the "Center City" quarter surrounding college housing-heavy Brinkerhoff and Court streets, Kasprzak said he had no choice but to take a new course of action.
"I was a college student, and I had plenty of good times, and the last thing I want to do is to ruin the good times of students at Plattsburgh State," Kasprzak said. "But, at the same time, I don't want Plattsburgh State students ruining the ability of city residents to live the way they want to. So we're going to make some changes, and if that ends up meaning some people get some pretty stiff fines, then that's what it will have to mean."
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