Last fall, a noise ordinance that hoisted hefty fines and possible jail time for party throwers really cramped some students' style. The nice weather and the excitement that the MSU football team provided cast a bewitching spell on autumn revelers, but in fear of the law, not many students would step up to host a bash. A group of forward-thinking students organized a petition drive to put a referendum on the noise ordinance policy, but the drive coasted to an apathetic standstill - after weeks, not months.
No parties. That's a bummer.
But on the bright side, it turns out that you actually can live in East Lansing and not have to worry about messy deadlines while you're pushing a petition. In April, the East Lansing City Council decided that if a two-thirds majority of a neighborhood petitioned to put a halt to new rental properties springing up in their area, they could have their way.
A ban on new rental properties means a ban on new student renters in the area, but only if permanent residents are willing to unify to do so. With the exception of Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh, the council supports such anti-student politicking. Obviously, we do not.
Since the issue of rental housing is apparently something worthy of attack, according to Councilmember Beverly Baten, the city has held a moratorium on new rental licenses in order to prevent a rush before residents could enact a permanent ban. The first moratorium was supposed to be lifted in May. Then the deadline passed without enough signees. So the City Council gave it another shot. The deadline is set to run out this August, but again, signatures to change the community are scarce. The council has since decided that October will provide ample time for permanent residents to band together and restrict students from their neighborhoods. Some permanent residents have been on vacation, after all.
So, student-based petitions, bad, resident-aimed petitions, good. If there's a misguided perception behind that, we encourage the council to supply it. They ignored our request from earlier this summer.
The moratorium on rental properties does nothing less than imply the council's blatant favoritism on behalf of permanent East Lansing residents. The student has since assumed the role of a second-class citizen, so long as they plan to venture out of city limits, post-graduation. The focus as of late - exemplified by the failed drive to be named one of Michigan's "Cool Cities" - is shifting from students to residents without regard for the former. Aside from Singh, the council's actions regarding this rental ban are not representative of the will of the student, of the very type of person responsible for giving this town any shred of character.
With MSU goes the town, and with the town go the students. Those are not mutually exclusive properties, not for sale and certainly not for rent. As long as the favoritism to permanent residents continues, we have no choice but to abhor this ban and the sentiments behind it.
