Moving day will come sometime this year for many residents east of the University. The only question is when.
The University Advisory Planning Committee met in a public hearing in the EMU Fir Room on Friday morning to determine revisions to the University’s long-term development plan for the East Campus area.
Concerned by the lack of notification many of her neighbors received before being forced to move, Madeline Jaross came to the hearing to find some concrete answers.
“I am not into fighting the University … I am really only here to find out when I have to move,” Jaross said. “I have a baby on the way and my notification said something about February; in February I’m going to be eight months pregnant and it’s going to be pretty difficult to move. So I’m just wondering, is it going to be February? April? September?”
Jaross had to work in November when the University Planning Committee held their initial workshops, which included public involvement. She said she was not informed of the Planning Committee’s goals for her neighborhood, nor was she consulted about the development.
The East Campus development plan includes the area from Agate Street to Villard Street, and from East 15th Avenue to East 19th Avenue. Currently, the University’s new child care center is the only project under construction.

However, if the University Planning Committee’s long-term plan is accepted by the city, the area will see substantial change in the next 20 years. The development would require the destruction of two-thirds of the residential homes in the area, homes primarily occupied by University students with families.
“My main concern is, where are you going to put us if you put us out?” East Campus resident Michael Sakell asked. “Are we going to be able to find reasonable student housing that we’re going to be able afford?
“What kind of a notice are we going to be given? Thirty days is not enough; I don’t even think 60 days is enough. Those are my concerns because I have a family, because my wife is a full-time student and has been accepted to the master’s program. We need to know a timetable, we need much more information that we are just not getting, and that’s my concern.”
The Advisory Planning Committee had hoped to vote on the acceptance of the revised development policy for the East Campus area at the hearing, but committee Chairman Michael Fifield delayed the vote until more discussion could occur.
“I think that there are some issues coming up that have not been considered by the University,” Fifield said.
Fifield said three areas that needed addressing were adequate notification for residents, suitable development proposals, including plans to control traffic and parking for the area, and alternative housing options for students with families.

“The mission of the University is to try to provide the best facilities available for everyone involved in the University,” he said.