Page 11 - the NOISE May 2014

student housing developers like Landmark to see financial opportunities in surrounding neighborhoods. NAU has an official enroll- ment goal of 25,531 by the year 2020, and it is well on its way to surpassing that number.
This has put considerable strains on the on-campus housing units, which can only hold 8,600. A Resident Assistant who wished to remain anonymous claims this semester is especially bad, with some students forced to bunk in various lounges, common areas and exercise rooms, in some cases with up to 4 other people. This situation was confirmed by another student employee.
Some of this overcrowding may be allevi- ated in the coming semester when several new residence halls will bring on-campus housing capacity to 9,000, but Ms. Henn of F3 says that the general outward expansion into other communities was what originally grabbed their attention about Landmark’s plan for Arrowhead Village. “Even before we realized there was going to be displacement of residents, we came to this issue because it’s a historic neighborhood, and when you add 600 units of student housing into a single story historic neighborhood that’s al- ready congested with traffic ... that’s why we came to this issue in the first place.”
Ms. Myers of the neighborhood associa- tion maintains that NAU bears some finan- cial responsibility for the housing needs of students it draws to the area. “They are able to get capital for other projects. We want to see them get the capital they need to make student and resident housing on campus, or on their own property. They’re involved in educating these students and have no idea how this is affecting neighborhoods.”
In the same week the Arizona Daily Sun first reported on Landmark’s plans for Ar- rowhead Village, it also printed a seemingly unrelated story on The Grove, another of Landmark’s student housing developments in Flagstaff. Police arrived at The Grove that night to find 200-300 people dancing and drinking alcohol in the street. The ground was littered with trash, and they claimed to have seen at least one person throwing glass bottles from a second story window onto the sidewalks below. Police could not get in touch with management at The Grove, and were unable to even determine who lived in the unit from which the party had spilled.
They were back only a few hours later to break up another party, where a partially clothed 18-year-old woman was dying of alcohol poisoning in a shower. A friend was holding her to “keep her from choking on her vomit again.”
The night in question took place on Homecoming weekend, which is notorious for its heavy drinking, but Ms. Moran seems to suggest this is an exaggerated example of student culture that often causes prob- lems for neighborhoods in which they are located. “The reason people want to move off-campus is that they don’t want to follow the regulations and alcohol restrictions that on-campus housing has, and it’s the commu- nities that bear the brunt of living next door to these developments.”
Mr. Villasenor views the developer’s role quite differently. “At the first open house meeting, there had to be 30-40 students there. The comments they left on the cards were compelling, because many of them talked about the deplorable conditions of housing outside the campus. Leaks in the roofs, windows ripped out, just crazy stuff that they’re living in during winter months up there.” He believes that Landmark is pro- viding safer, more comfortable housing for students who would otherwise get much
less for the same price.
COMPENSATION
Still, much of the controversy surround- ing the Landmark plan is focused on the residents who will be forced to move. Only 24 hours before this article’s deadline, Land- mark held another meeting with residents to address criticisms leveled at the first attempt. Mr. Villasenor claimed that word of the stu- dent housing project became public earlier than Landmark had anticipated, before they had opportunity to solidify the details that residents were eager to know.
The presentation made clear, for the first time, precise monetary amounts that Arrow- head Village residents would be compensat- ed for the displacement. Though the details are somewhat complex, they primarily in- clude the following awards:
Relocation Fund: $1250 for a single-wide trail- er, $2500 for a double-wide
Moving Allowance: Based on the number of rooms with furniture, from $700 for one room to $1100 for five rooms
Six Months Rent at Arrowhead Rates: $1710 Rental / Down Payment Assistance: up to
$6750, which Landmark claims is the dif- ference between Arrowhead rates and the average mobile home park rate in Flagstaff for 42 months
Mr. Villasenor insists that Landmark is go- ing above and beyond the federal standard to accommodate the Arrowhead Village resi- dents who will be displaced. Federal law, for instance, requires that anyone who receives moving assistance be a US Citizen. “We have determined that citizenship, to us, does not matter. My client has said ‘We will treat ev- erybody fairly.’”
But Ms. Henn of F3 says that financial compensation is not the sole concern, and that regardless of what is being offered in the short-term, there won’t be compensa- tion that will allow them to remain in Flag- staff for longer than the rental assistance lasts. “The people of Arrowhead have told us that even if by some miracle they could find somewhere as cheap, it would be a 30-min- ute drive. [Arrowhead Village] is a location where they can walk to work, walk to school and public transportation is available.” One 14-year Arrowhead resident at the February council meeting testified to this, saying, “I can’t drive, and I have to go to the laundro- mat, to the Safeway, to the dollar store.”
THE BATTLE AHEAD
If opponents of the Landmark plan for the area are to succeed in stopping its implemen- tation, they will need to prevent the property from being rezoned for “highway commercial” use by the city. This will be discussed and voted on in three public meetings:
May 28: a public hearing/vote before the Planning and Zoning Commission
June 17: first hearing before City Council July 1: final hearing/vote before City Council
Mr. McCarthy says that even if Landmark’s plan is approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, a close vote could cause City Council to think harder about its own deci- sion. “The outcome is not preordained. This could go either way.”
| Kendall Perkinson is a newly ar- rived Flagstaff writer & photographer. kromaticphoto@gmail.com
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