Conflicted interests
surround east campus
The Fairmount Neighborhood Association met Tuesday to discuss its relationship with the University regarding the east campus area.
Members of the association disagreed with one another on a number of issues, ranging from a property development agreement between the neighborhood and the University to whether association President Laura Marriott can adequately keep association members informed under its current communication systems.
University Planning Director Chris Ramey and University Associate Vice President Jan Oliver attended the meeting. Ramey talked briefly about the University’s plans to work with the association to update a 20-year-old agreement guiding the development of University-owned property in the area.
Comments from the association ranged from support for updating the 20-year-old agreement to insistence that all parties adhere to the plan as-is. Some in the association also raised objections to the University’s new childcare center, sited for the southeast corner of 17th Avenue and Columbia Street.
Association member Christine Bradshaw, who thought the property development agreement should be honored as-is, said the University violated the agreement by not informing the entire neighborhood association. Marriott, however, said the University had not violated the agreement because she had met with representatives from the University. Many association members, including Bradshaw, then expressed concern that Marriott had not kept the neighborhood well-informed.
“If somebody’s as involved in the neighborhood as I am, and I didn’t know that a childcare center is going in, that’s just not right,” Bradshaw said.
Oliver said the University would continue to work with the association, but hoped to hear a more unified voice from it soon.
— Marty Toohey