Parking Changes Could Impact Residency Regulations
The days of being able to park on the street because your roommates’ vehicles are taking up the driveway may be limited. In an attempt to limit parking congestion, the Moorhead city government is considering a proposal to require one off-street parking space for every renter at rental properties around campus. Many rental units probably would not be in compliance with the new requirement, according to the Moorhead Neighborhood Planning document detailing the proposal.
That could have the effect of decreasing the number of roommates able to live together in certain properties, thereby bringing rent costs up. Higher off-campus rents could create a difficult situation for some students who choose to live off-campus for financial reasons. Students live off-campus for the availability and proximity of retail jobs, according to the housing and residential life department at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Lower costs of living can also play a role.
The proposed changes would apply only to a specific zone created around the campuses. A Concordia survey revealed that one-third of its student body resides off-campus within a three-block radius, probably within the area under consideration for changes, which would also include other parking restrictions such as permit zones and tickets.
Student discontent over the proposals seems widespread.
“It really does seem to be a pertinent issue for both current students and for newly graduated students,” Concordia senior Gabriel Hertler said. “While we may wish to live off-campus for any number of reasons, it is very troubling to think that our chances for careers and independent living can be potentially compromised because of student overcrowding.”
Students at Concordia and MSUM will feel the effects of the parking and housing restrictions if the proposal is approved, as enrollment at both institutions has students taking up 50 percent of Moorhead’s rental market, according to a comparative population growth survey.
Other students are concerned about the possibility of increased rent for off-campus properties. Concordia junior Sarah Ellingson is one of them.
“In reality, if they want students to live on-campus, they should think about building more on-campus apartments,” Ellingson said. “Students that find apartments off-campus struggle enough as it is to pay rent. Also, not every apartment off-campus has parking.”
Student Government Association president Zack Kenz is worried that the proposals are generally unlikely to improve the quality of living in Moorhead, and also that they seem to reflect a bias against students.
“It would create this messy supply and demand problem,” Kenz said. “We’ve already got a supply problem. Why does it make sense to restrict the supply even further?”
Any anti-student bias reflected in the report could be due to the lack of student representation in the process that resulted in the proposals, which, according to Kenz, needs to change.
“The best thing to do is show up at the meetings on these dates we [SGA] will be providing,” he said. “I’d love to see at least 50 students at the next city working group meeting.”
Consultants are now preparing a final report based on the results of 18 months of studying the situation in Moorhead, according to Lisa Vatnsdal, manager of neighborhood services for the city. The report will be presented to the Neighborhood Planning working group. If the working group comes to a quick consensus over the report, it will be presented to the City Planning Commission on Nov. 7. Otherwise that presentation will happen at the next meeting on Dec. 4. After the planning commission deals with the report ,it would head to the policy makers at a city council meeting, possibly on Dec. 17.
The People Escaping Poverty Project in Moorhead has been working to help students make a case against the proposals. They will host a meeting at 6:30 on Tuesday, Nov. 6 to help students prepare a presentation to be given to the City Planning Commission the next day. The meeting will be held at 116 12th St. S, MHD. Students are encouraged to attend.
