The Fort Worth Zoning Commission wants to create a TCU Residential Overlay District in order to “protect the single family residential character of the neighborhood surrounding TCU” and “diminish those influences which infringe on the quiet enjoyment of single family residences, such as noise, litter, overcrowding, additional parking needs and lack of maintenance of structures and their grounds.” In order to do this, they proposed limiting the number of unrelated residents living in a single-family home from five to three. As a student who currently lives off campus in a four-person house, I strongly object this proposal. I decided to further investigate the issue, and here is the information I found:
Who?
The people in favor of the proposal: Parents and other Non-TCU students who live
near TCU and have complained to their City Council members about the problems college students living nearby are causing. In addition, investors who feel that the degradation of the houses near campus is causing them to lose money.
The people in opposition to the proposal: Most TCU students and any investors, developers and/or owners who rent out their four or more bedroom houses around campus.
The proposed overlay would affect more than 300 investor properties, along with many of the 51.7% of TCU students who live off campus.
What?
The City of Fort Worth is considering an overlay
district in areas surrounding TCU to reduce the number of unrelated people
living in a single-family home from five to three.
When?
On Oct. 8 the City Council met with the public for a few hours to hear their opinions on the matter, eventually resulting in a unanimous vote to postpone the decision for 30 days. A main factor in the decision to postpone the vote was due to indecision about a grandfather clause regarding existing homes.
What is a grandfather clause and what will it do if the
ordinance passes?
According to uslegal.com, a grandfather clause allows the
current status of something pre-existing to remain unchanged, despite a change
in policy which applies in the future. This means that if the City of Fort
Worth allows a grandfather clause, the houses which currently house four or
more unrelated residents can continue to do so. However, other options that the
City Council is considering include a grandfather period that only lasts for a
certain amount of years or no grandfather period at all. If the latter becomes
the case, this would require all current properties to comply by June 2016,
causing much economic loss and hardship for investors.
Where?
The proposed overlay would encompass neighborhoods
surrounding TCU, including Frisco Heights, University Place, Paschal,
Bluebonnet Place, Bluebonnet Hills, Westcliff, Westcliff Village, Colonial
Hills, Tanglewood, University West, University Place, Park Hill, Park Hill
Place and Berkeley Place. Look at the map at the top of this article for a
better map visual.
Why?
To deal with the increased student population and
preserve the quality of the existing neighborhoods by reducing issues with
parking, partying, noise, trash, etc.
What does this means for students?
These stricter regulations may
leave students without a place to live, cause roommate issues, and force
students to travel father distances to campus, thus needing to drive rather
than walk or bike.
What can you do to stop it?
Sign the petition presented by TCU student body vice president of external affairs, Maddie Reddick: http://3720431.polldaddy.com/s/fort-worth-overlay-...
My opinion:
When I first heard of the proposal, I was extremely upset. The way I see it, if you’re going to buy a
house anywhere within a two mile radius of a college campus, you need to know
what you’re getting yourself into before you do. You can’t complain about
issues regarding college students because you gave up that right when you chose
to live next to them. Okay, maybe that was a tad dramatic, obviously they still
have the right to expect polite and respectful neighbors, but I still don’t
think they should choose to move right next to campus. These houses should be saved for
college students who actually have a purpose for living as close to campus as they
do. We are the ones who have classes we need to walk to or quickly drive to each day, often multiple times a day. After my initial rage I tried to view the topic from a different perspective. I realized that there are a few preschools and grade schools near campus which parents are entitled to want to live close to.
After looking at both sides, I still think the proposal to change the unrelated resident limit from five people to three is not the best solution. Three people in a house can be just as noisy, if not more, than five people can. Not all off-campus students are difficult neighbors, and on top of that we shouldn’t all be penalized for the disruptions that a few students living off campus occasionally cause during the weekend. I think a fair compromise would be a stricter code enforcement in the surrounding neighborhoods. This way the disturbances can be monitored on a case by case basis, rather than punishing every TCU student who wants to live near campus.
