2008 Woodie Awards
Unwelcome intruder
Pasquale Passarella, Copy Editor
Issue date: 10/3/07Section: Editorials and Opinion
When hearing for the first time that St. John's had already begun construction on a new six-story off-campus residential building, you might have been surprised. Just imagine how the people living in that neighborhood feel.
As part of the University's continuing policy of seeking out new real estate in order to expand housing, St. John's recently bought land in a Jamaica Estates neighborhood. The six-story dormitory is meant to fight the growing need for housing at St. John's, as the resident population continues to grow each year.
Obviously, in a steadily growing university like St. John's, the initiation of a new construction project is not really shocking news. That is, except for the residents of that Jamaica Estates neighborhood, who only learned of the fact when construction actually began.
The people living around the site of the future residential building were distraught to find out that a six story building would now be sprouting up within their neighborhood, especially since zoning codes limit buildings to a maximum of 40 feet. The dorm is going to be 62 feet tall.
This leads one to wonder how St. John's was able to get around the zoning code. Apparently, there was a technicality in the zone's community facility rules, which allowed the six-story building to slip through. How must this make the community of Jamaica Estates feel about their new neighbors, if St. John's entry into the community was precipitated by such a sneaky move?
Residents foresee a whole mess of problems stemming from the dorm in their backyards. The most obvious issue is that of noisy students coming back to their rooms at all hours of the night. With families living around the building, the noise would definitely be disruptive. In addition, residents fear that having nearly 500 students move in would cause serious water pressure and traffic problems.
Still, whatever positive or negative aspects there are to this particular location, the controversy really boils down to the fact that no one was consulted. The Jamaica Estates community had no say and neither did St John's students. While the University claims that discussing the issue with the public prior to now would have been "premature and speculative," it would have been a great way to reach out to their new neighbors if they had been given some warning.
As part of the University's continuing policy of seeking out new real estate in order to expand housing, St. John's recently bought land in a Jamaica Estates neighborhood. The six-story dormitory is meant to fight the growing need for housing at St. John's, as the resident population continues to grow each year.
Obviously, in a steadily growing university like St. John's, the initiation of a new construction project is not really shocking news. That is, except for the residents of that Jamaica Estates neighborhood, who only learned of the fact when construction actually began.
The people living around the site of the future residential building were distraught to find out that a six story building would now be sprouting up within their neighborhood, especially since zoning codes limit buildings to a maximum of 40 feet. The dorm is going to be 62 feet tall.
This leads one to wonder how St. John's was able to get around the zoning code. Apparently, there was a technicality in the zone's community facility rules, which allowed the six-story building to slip through. How must this make the community of Jamaica Estates feel about their new neighbors, if St. John's entry into the community was precipitated by such a sneaky move?
Residents foresee a whole mess of problems stemming from the dorm in their backyards. The most obvious issue is that of noisy students coming back to their rooms at all hours of the night. With families living around the building, the noise would definitely be disruptive. In addition, residents fear that having nearly 500 students move in would cause serious water pressure and traffic problems.
Still, whatever positive or negative aspects there are to this particular location, the controversy really boils down to the fact that no one was consulted. The Jamaica Estates community had no say and neither did St John's students. While the University claims that discussing the issue with the public prior to now would have been "premature and speculative," it would have been a great way to reach out to their new neighbors if they had been given some warning.
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