by Sami Moore
The saga between the town of Hamden and Quinnipiac University continues.
Landlords seeking new student housing permits to rent to Quinnipiac University students will now be required to live in the house they are renting, due to new regulations Hamden’s Planning and Zone Commission approved Tuesday night.
According to The New Haven Register, the commission unanimously approved of the new regulations.
The commission hopes that the new regulation will eliminate absentee landlords that are renting homes in residential neighborhoods to students.
“This is a great way to stop the absentee landlords. We are looking forward to getting this in and getting our neighborhood back,” explained West Woods Neighborhood Association co-president Cindy Civitello. “This has been a long time coming. We have waited for this for years.”
Whitney Avenue residents Jill and Frank Martone are very excited for the new rule, hoping it will cut down on the noise and parties.
“The noise is unbelievable,” Jill Martone said, claiming that her life has been “chaos” for the past few years. “They are drinking and driving, texting and driving — they have urinated and vomited on our lawn. We pay $7,800 a year (in taxes) to not sleep from Thursday to Sunday.”
She continued by explaining, “On Halloween, there was a party at a house next to them where students in costumes were climbing on the roof of the home.”
While some residents in the area may be happy with the new regulation, some Quinnipiac University students are not.
“The Hamden proposal requiring landlords to live on the same property when renting to students is the most idiotic thing I’ve heard lately,” senior Megan Prevost said in a tweet.
Other Quinnipiac University students are taking to their Twitter accounts to share their frustrations with the new regulation.
The town of Hamden continues to have no chill
— Sarah Kennedy (@_SarahKennedy) December 9, 2015
Stupid idea by the town of Hamden to pass that law regarding QU offcampus housing….will never hold up in court, host costing town $$$$ — Adam Rivers (@adamrivers) December 9, 2015
These regulations will be going into effect on Dec. 16.
Hamden’s Zoning and Planning commission is looking into proposed regulations, such as creating a university zone and prohibiting indoor furniture to be placed outside.
