Emmitsburg to allow new type of student housing downtown
The policy does not apply to homes with five or fewer bedrooms, since those types of living arrangements are considered boarding homes in the town code.
Designations of student housing of this type are to be awarded as zoning special exceptions by the Board of Appeals and must not be within 500 feet of another boarding home or student housing units, according to the ordinance.
Additional conditions of student housing for those enrolled in post-secondary schools include one off-street parking space per bedroom, trash to be screened from public view and a maximum of one student per bedroom.
All dwelling units must meet the requirements of the International Building Code.
The ordinance came as a response to two rental properties owned by local businessman David Ott that totaled 11 units — surpassing the boarding house thresholds.
The ordinance passed 3-2 on Monday.
Commissioners Jim Hoover, Kevin Hagan and Cliff Sweeney voted in favor.
Commissioners Amy Boehman-Pollitt and Valerie Turnquist voted against.
Hagan said the ordinance was more about preventing development in the future that might change the character of the community of West Main Street and destroy the historic, charming nature.
He added that a more robust student housing bill may need to be passed later to address all forms of housing that students from Mount St. Mary's University may choose, but the ordinance would provide assurances to landowners in the near term.
'We're putting off the good for the perfect and we may never find the perfect,' Hagan said. 'The longer we wait, the more it costs everyone. We're running up everybody's legal fees here.'
Boehman-Pollitt said amending the ordinance with a rental registration bill later to put more restrictions on student housing was like 'putting the cart before the horse.'
'I don't see how it is the town's problem to make sure a landlord gets to maximize their profit, so much as what is our town vision?' she said. 'If we want it limited, it should be stated ahead of time.'
Turnquist said the policy was 'so vague' that it would not adequately solve the issue for any parties involved.
'I'm not opposed to students living in town, but I think we need to protect the quality of life for our residents by ensuring a policy that's fair and equitable to all,' she said.
During the public comments period, two residents spoke out against student housing, while Gerard Joyce, Mount St. Mary's president, asked the council to continue building the relationship between the town and the Mount.
'We want to be part of this community, if you'll have us,' Joyce said.
He added that living off campus was not a matter of scarcity of on-campus housing, but a step in the development of life skills for students looking to live independently and frequent local stores and restaurants, adding to the vibrancy of downtown life.
'Part of our mission is producing ethical leaders with service to God and others — you're the others in this scenario,' Joyce said. 'I want you to be as proud of our students as we are.'
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San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Historic building in S.F.'s Tenderloin will remain a halfway house, rules city's Board of Appeals
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A representative for Geo Group confirmed Thursday that the company needed the determination in order to renew state and federal contracts to run its re-entry program out of the property. The former residential hotel at 111 Taylor once housed a 24-hour diner known as the Comptons Cafeteria, which became a symbol of queer resistance in 1966 when an anti-police brutality riot led by trans women broke out at the establishment. The appellants seeking to boot Geo Group from the Tenderloin, known as the Comptons x Coalition, argued that the company had 'intensified' its sanctioned operations in the building over the years in violation of the city's Planning Code, pointing to security measures such as headcounts and urinalysis testing that are now in place at the property. 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Laborde also pointed to a number of open complaints with the Department of Building Inspection seeking to verify the number of beds within the facility and the 'conditions for the people inside.' Zoning Administrator Corey Teague confirmed Wednesday that the Planning Department has not yet launched an investigation to verify Geo Group's self-reported uses for the 111 Taylor facility and whether they were in line with the property's zoning. Teague said he relied on roughly a dozen prior determination letters issued over the years confirming the purported group housing use for the letter he issued at the start of the year. He added that enforcement cases are separate from determinations regarding the zoned uses of properties. 'We do have an open enforcement case that is currently under investigation. We did have two staff members do a full site visit for the entire building last month, we have requested information and documents from the operators and the owners. And that process is ongoing,' Teauge said. 'If we determine that there is a case … of someone not operating in that way (as group housing), then that is an unauthorized change of use,' Teague said, adding that Geo Group would need to take steps to come into compliance or seek a special authorization to change the property's use. Prior to Wednesday's hearing, the coalition's campaign was supported by state Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Matt Haney, who, in a joint letter to the board, described 111 Taylor's use by a 'private carceral corporation' as 'wholly inappropriate because of the historical and cultural significance of the site itself.' 'This is not just any parcel of land. It sits at the heart of a community that has been a sanctuary and stronghold for transgender people for generations, before the historic Stonewall riots, and long before the city formally recognized the Transgender District,' the legislators wrote. 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Yahoo
12-06-2025
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Revitalizing neighborhoods and reviving communities
RUSH COUNTY – When she pulled through the quiet neighborhood in Milroy, she missed it. To Tara Hagan's disbelief, her GPS brought her to ferocious green shrouds burying a dreary abandoned property. Hagan is the executive director of the Southeastern Indiana Community Preservation and Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization that seeks partnerships to develop vacant and blighted properties and transform them into affordable housing. Observing trees dismembering the white house's walls and windows, Hagan pushed a yard sign into the ground that reads 'RURAL REVITALIZATION IN PROGRESS' before she left for a meeting. This sign marks the beginning of an ambitious project. Like many rural counties, Rush County endures the residual effects of dilapidated properties, called blight, overwhelming unincorporated towns and small communities. The Rush County Community Foundation is officially implementing its rural revitalization efforts to support livelihoods across Rush County by acquiring its first four properties. In December 2024, RCCF received a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment's Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT VIII) initiative after months of intricate planning and collaboration with county officials and the public. With this funding, the Rural Revitalization Project and the county aim to eliminate blight on 30 properties, increase access to high-speed internet, improve county recreational opportunities and establish county ordinances and code enforcement. The first phase of this project focuses on blight elimination. The Rural Revitalization Project works closely with SICPDC to acquire vacant blighted residential properties and 'infill' plots. The Southeast Indiana Regional Planning Commission will orchestrate the building demolition with the prospect that interested developers and local buyers will build on these lots. The lots will be advertised locally and can be purchased through SICPDC's HOMEbuyer program. 'We're not here to come in and take over properties and hoard them for ourselves. ... This is a county project. We are a partner with the county to get this turned over very quickly to get infill housing into these lots, so families can start to move in,' Hagan said. The willing seller and willing buyer program has played an instrumental role in development projects throughout Southeastern Indiana. 'Through initiatives similar to the Rural Revitalization Project, SIRPC has helped towns remove blight, reinvest in aging infrastructure, rehabilitate existing homes and bring new housing options to life – all while preserving the character of the communities,' said SIRPC's project developer Victoria Bechert. For occupied blighted properties or those endangered by blight, rural revitalization will include free income-based owner-occupied rehabilitation grants for essential repairs. To qualify for the owner-occupied rehabilitation services, the property must be outside of Rushville's city limits. RCCF is still accepting owner-occupied rehabilitation applications that can be found in the RCCF Office at 117 N. Main Street, Rushville. 'Overall, the rural revitalization process is about creating safe, attractive communities where residents can live with dignity, and where future growth is possible,' Bechert said. However, there is a long way to go. 'The county has overlooked blight situations in our small communities,' Rush County Commissioner Jeff Wilson said. Commissioners Wilson, Kenny Aulbach and Ron Jarman reached consensus that the small county communities need this project. 'We have [blighted] properties in every one of our small communities. ... This project adds to the beautification of these small communities, and we're hearing loud and clear that residents want that,' Commissioner Wilson said. The aesthetic of a community may seem like a low priority; however, simple curb appeal has a direct relationship to the local economy. Blighted properties generate fewer opportunities for communities to thrive because they reduce property values, decrease tax revenue and decrease investment in communities. Blighted neighborhoods struggle not only to attract new residents, but also to retain them. This results in shrinking communities that do not have breadth to support their businesses and schools. The local economy's decline creates fertile ground for more blight to overtake the community, and the vicious cycle begins again. Projects like rural revitalization plan to break this cycle. Eliminating blight ushers residential and business opportunities, creating enriching communities. 'The nice thing about it is that you see the fruits of your labor, usually pretty quickly,' Hagan said. 'The end result is to just see something really fresh and revitalized. … I'm proud to be a part of these community revitalizations.' Although the community's looks are a significant piece of the puzzle, the Rural Revitalization Project reaches beyond community aesthetics. Blighted properties also invite health concerns. 'In some instances, it [blighted properties] can be not a safe place for children to play in or pets to be around because of all the trash and rubbish that's stuck around a property,' Rush County Environmental Health Specialist Dan Burklow said. The properties that Burklow describes are typically surrounded by overgrowth and debris, which beckon vermin that can carry diseases. Unkept homes and trash often contain glass shards, loose nails, and, in some cases, even asbestos. 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It will enforce the care of properties in small towns with regard to abandoned houses, overgrown with weeds and grass, mainly in residential zones,' Holzback said. The enforcement will ultimately raise property values for residential zones and eliminate health risks for neighborhoods, benefiting communities through aesthetics, economics and standard of living. Rural revitalization seeks to improve quality of life across the county beyond housing as well. The project plans to increase access to high-speed internet by adding dozens of miles of broadband infrastructure. To increase recreation, the project plans to improve playgrounds and develop entry points along the Flatrock River for canoeing and kayaking. The Rural Revitalization Project also partners with the county to assess the potential for future recreational projects. Brian Sheehan worked with Rushville's blight elimination project in the past and is a key member in the Rural Revitalization Project. Hearing the growing cry to 'clean up the town' from constituents, the city started planning how to fulfill this request back in 2012. The goal was simple: accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, Sheehan said. Because blighted properties affect both a city economically and residents' livelihoods, 'it takes away from the whole community… Our purpose is not just to clean up properties, but to set the property up for development, new life and hopefully, a new family in the near future,' Sheehan said. 'I think the biggest win will be restoring confidence and pride in our small county communities and encouraging development in those communities. Working to clean up the town paid high dividends in Rushville and I think it will do the same in Rush County towns,' Sheehan continued. Although it is ambitious, RCCF's Rural Revitalization Program not only seeks to rebuild damaged properties but also to restore livelihoods across the County. By directly impacting health, local economy, and sense of community, RCCF's revitalization project helps Rush County refurbish today to provide a better tomorrow. Signs are in the ground on four properties already acquired through the project's blight efforts, in Carthage, Arlington, Manilla and Milroy. The process to remove those blighted properties will begin soon, along with more properties being acquired into the project. 'It is rewarding to see public-facing work starting to occur in our Rural Revitalization Project and we are excited for the positive impact it will have on Rush County,' notes RCCF Executive Director Chris May. 'Our mission is to cultivate resources to enhance life in Rush County. We are committed to being a future-focused leader to support our community, and projects like this hopefully prove we are fulfilling that mission.' To participate in SICPDC's HOMEbuyer program, consult or contact Hagan ( Bechert ( or Hagan ( Stay caught up on the rural revitalization effort on RCCF's website and social media pages. Established in 1991, the Rush County Community Foundation cultivates resources to enhance life in Rush County. With nearly $30.5 million in assets, 2024 was a record year for RCCF, reaching all-time highs in assets and in grantmaking – supporting Rush County with nearly $1.1 million in payouts, including over $250,000 in scholarships. Through its Lilly Endowment GIFT VII receipt of $5,000,000 in 2020, RCCF played a leading role in planning and creation of the Love Community Center. The Rush County Community Foundation continues to imagine and strive for a future that best serves our community. For more information, visit and follow us on Facebook @rushcountycommunityfoundation.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Yahoo
Emmitsburg to allow new type of student housing downtown
Students will be allowed to live in the Village Zone in the town of Emmitsburg in residences with six or more bedrooms. The policy does not apply to homes with five or fewer bedrooms, since those types of living arrangements are considered boarding homes in the town code. Designations of student housing of this type are to be awarded as zoning special exceptions by the Board of Appeals and must not be within 500 feet of another boarding home or student housing units, according to the ordinance. Additional conditions of student housing for those enrolled in post-secondary schools include one off-street parking space per bedroom, trash to be screened from public view and a maximum of one student per bedroom. All dwelling units must meet the requirements of the International Building Code. The ordinance came as a response to two rental properties owned by local businessman David Ott that totaled 11 units — surpassing the boarding house thresholds. The ordinance passed 3-2 on Monday. Commissioners Jim Hoover, Kevin Hagan and Cliff Sweeney voted in favor. Commissioners Amy Boehman-Pollitt and Valerie Turnquist voted against. Hagan said the ordinance was more about preventing development in the future that might change the character of the community of West Main Street and destroy the historic, charming nature. He added that a more robust student housing bill may need to be passed later to address all forms of housing that students from Mount St. Mary's University may choose, but the ordinance would provide assurances to landowners in the near term. 'We're putting off the good for the perfect and we may never find the perfect,' Hagan said. 'The longer we wait, the more it costs everyone. We're running up everybody's legal fees here.' Boehman-Pollitt said amending the ordinance with a rental registration bill later to put more restrictions on student housing was like 'putting the cart before the horse.' 'I don't see how it is the town's problem to make sure a landlord gets to maximize their profit, so much as what is our town vision?' she said. 'If we want it limited, it should be stated ahead of time.' Turnquist said the policy was 'so vague' that it would not adequately solve the issue for any parties involved. 'I'm not opposed to students living in town, but I think we need to protect the quality of life for our residents by ensuring a policy that's fair and equitable to all,' she said. During the public comments period, two residents spoke out against student housing, while Gerard Joyce, Mount St. Mary's president, asked the council to continue building the relationship between the town and the Mount. 'We want to be part of this community, if you'll have us,' Joyce said. He added that living off campus was not a matter of scarcity of on-campus housing, but a step in the development of life skills for students looking to live independently and frequent local stores and restaurants, adding to the vibrancy of downtown life. 'Part of our mission is producing ethical leaders with service to God and others — you're the others in this scenario,' Joyce said. 'I want you to be as proud of our students as we are.'
