Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:08 PM CDT
COLUMN: Student housing issue, like underage drinking, never seems to go away
By BILL LAIR, Managing Editor
blair@jg-tc.com
Two things never seem to change in Charleston. One is the issue of underage drinking. The other issue involves student housing.
The issue of building apartments near the intersection of Fourth and Polk in Charleston was resolved last week with a 3-2 City Council vote but don’t be surprised if a similar issue surfaces again in the future.
Brothers Chad and Hadley Phillips now will be able to build their 56-resident complex containing 22 two-bedroom and 12 one-bedroom apartments in the 900 block of Fourth Street.
On paper, it should have been an easy decision.
The city zoning board, on two occasions, voted unanimously to recommend the variance.
But the council, led by Mayor John Inyart, first sent the matter back to the zoners for more testimony and then, finally, after more than two months of discussions, voted 3-2 to approve the Phillips’ plan.
I don’t see how you could vote against the Phillips plan.
Yes, I think Charleston is overbuilt with rental properties now.
Eastern Illinois University can house more than 5,000 students in campus residence halls and apartments. There are scads of houses and apartments throughout the community.
In fact, the apartment to be built by the Phillips brothers will be the third one on the same block. The others have been there for 40 years or more.
In addition, the Phillipses built another big complex on the west side of Fourth Street a couple years ago.
I don’t blame families who live in the area for wanting fewer apartment complexes on that street but that is how it is zoned — even if I think that’s not the best place for apartments.
But I was surprised the mayor was so opposed to this proposal.
In March 2005, just before he took office, Inyart criticized the council at that time for not approving developers’ plans for the University Village housing complex east of Wal-Mart.
Inyart cited the financial investment of those developers and the property tax revenue that would go to schools and other taxing bodies.
I agreed with him then. I don’t understand the opposite stance this year.
Part of the 2005 objections were that too many rental properties were vacant so why did we need a couple hundred more spaces?
That was one of the arguments this year too, though these apartments will house just 56.
But, just as in 2005, developers believe there is a market for their complex and they are willing to invest their money in Charleston.
So, should students be integrated into neighborhoods or should they be isolated into areas such as Greek Court and University Village and Campus Pointe east of Wal-Mart?
And, perhaps, once we get the rental housing issue settled to everyone’s satisfaction, we can tackle the underage drinking issue so that we will no longer see a couple hundred citations issued on a warm fall weekend night. You think?
The Charleston VFW Ladies Auxiliary again is gathering items to send to military men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ke’an Armstrong of WEIU and the Coles County Meth Awareness Coalition said the ladies auxiliary needs some help gathering items.
Items needed include packaged cookies, packaged nuts, wrapped hard candy, small artificial Christmas trees, Christmas ornaments, toiletry bags/shaving kits, stationery, envelopes, Christmas cards and children’s items such as toys, games, books, etc. (The service men and women give these items to the children they come in contact with).
WEIU FM & TV (1521 Buzzard Hall at EIU) can be a dropoff location Armstrong said.
“Anything we can do to support our troops with this effort would be greatly appreciated,” Armstrong said. “We want them know they are being thought of from their hometown.”
Yes, a large number of area men and women just returned home from Afghanistan this fall. But we still have a number of area residents serving for us around the world.
The ladies auxiliary would like to send some carepacks in early November.
Speaking of the troops, about a month ago, the government dropped a murder charge against a U.S. Marine in connection with the same case that involved a Marine from Hindsboro.
The government dropped a murder charge against the Marine who pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty for killing an unarmed Iraqi detainee during a battle to recapture the city of Fallujah.
Sgt. Jermaine Nelson of New York now faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
His defense attorney told reporters the plea agreement says Nelson will not serve any prison time and will be honorably discharged.
Nelson was the only remaining defendant in a case that resulted in two defeats for the government. One of those other defendants, Sgt. Ryan Weemer of Hindsboro, was acquitted by a military jury of the same charges in April.
The case came to light long after the battle. In 2006, after he left the Marine Corps, Weemer applied for a job in the Secret Service. The incident came to light during a background interview as part of the application.
Weemer’s account triggered an investigation that led to the charges.
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JWT wrote on Oct 14, 2009 12:54 PM: