Some members of the community are seeking a cap on University enrollment until Towson can provide on-campus housing for at least 40 percent of its students.
Citing persistent behavioral issues along with increasing numbers of rental properties, the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations president Ed Kilcullen sent President Robert Caret a letter asking to request the University System of Maryland cap enrollment.
"It's a combination of the rental properties and the continued alcohol problems that go along with having students from a university," Kilcullen said.
"When I was a student I could stay up a whole lot later than I could now. I could drink a lot more alcohol than I could now. It happens with kids, but it doesn't mix well with the people living in the communities."
According to Kilcullen, some neighborhoods are now up to 40 to 50 percent rental properties, which he said are driving young families out of the community.
Caret said he "understands their concerns and will continue to work with them through the University Relations Committee."
The University Relations Committee, a subcommittee of the GTCCA, is made up of members of the Towson community and representatives from the University. The GTCCA also has a Community Relations Committee that does not have University representation that deals with issues between the two parties.
Kilcullen said the underlying trend that has led to the majority of the disruptions is persistent alcohol consumption in the community and in the bars uptown.
"Young people go to the bars. They come out of the bars and they drive off and get picked up for DUIs or they walk back and are disruptive," he said
According to Kilcullen, who lives near Burke Avenue, one of his neighbors had a side mirror broken off of their car by a student.
"It has a domino effect because more and more students move into the neighborhoods and more and more young families move out because they don't want to deal with the parties and the noise and the disruption," Kilcullen said.
At the Feb. 21 GTCCA meeting, Baltimore County Police captain Alan Jones said that since the spring semester the department has written 48 citations related to student alcohol use.
Kilcullen said the community has been satisfied with the efforts by the increased police presence, but wants officers to more closely patrol inside the neighborhoods instead of focusing just near the bars.
"One of the issues we have is they are in the core so they get some of the people coming out of the bars, but they aren't in the neighborhoods. So when some get by and back into the neighborhoods they don't get picked up," he said.
Caret said ultimately, each state institutions enrollment is determined by the USM's Master Plan that is driven by the state's needs.
RSS Feeds
Be the first to comment on this article!