A continuing legal dispute over 11 Bowdoin students moving into a house at 17 Cleaveland St. has sparked outrage among neighbors, left students camping out in friends' apartments, and raised questions about the perks and pitfalls of off-campus housing.
Four neighbors of the property?including Associate Professor of Film Studies Tricia Welsch?have appealed to the town, insisting that allowing the eleven students to live in the house would violate town ordinances.
Meanwhile, the students, who are not directly involved in any of the legal cases, have been left in limbo. As of early Friday morning, they had not yet moved into the house.
The neighbors have brought a legal case against the owners of the historic Cleaveland Street house, brothers Dr. Dimitri Seretakis '94, and Anthony Seretakis '95, and against the town of Brunswick.
While the town has approved the Seretakis' planned use for the house, the group of neighbors contends that the brothers are turning the dwelling into a boarding house, which is prohibited by law in Brunswick.
Although they declined to speak with the Orient for this story, the neighbors released a statement [see Op-Ed, page 12] which reiterated their belief "that the use of 17 Cleaveland St. as a rental home for 11 or more students fits the town's definition of a boarding house?a use which is prohibited in this district." The group has thus "taken the matter first to the Zoning Board of Appeals and now to the Superior Court of Maine," according to its statement.
"It's absurd that they are calling this a boarding house," said Dimitri Seretakis, who acted as spokesman for his family. "It's a two-unit dwelling."
The legal case began after the Brunswick Codes Enforcement Officer Jeffrey Hutchinson ruled that the 17 Cleaveland St. property was a legal "two-unit dwelling," not an illegal "boarding house."
"Your typical boarding house is when all individuals rent is the bedroom and they really don't have access to the rest of the dwelling," Hutchinson told the Orient. Boarders "may or may not have meals?and in many cases they pay for the meals," he said.
In the 17 Cleaveland St. property, "You've got two leases, one for one unit, one for the other; six individuals in one unit and five in the other. So under the definition of the ordinance, which I have to enforce and I can't alter from, this is not a boarding house," Hutchinson said.
The neighbors appealed his decision to the Brunswick Zoning Board of Appeals.
The Brunswick Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) heard the appeal at a June 21 meeting. The hearing, which lasted four hours?an unusually long time?saw a number of citizens, including many Bowdoin professors, speak in favor of the appellants.
Associate Professor of Anthropology Susan Kaplan was among those who spoke in favor of the appeal. Although she is not directly involved in the case, she lives next door to students living off-campus on School Street.
"I teach at Bowdoin College. I love teaching at Bowdoin College. I love my students. I love working with them. I hate living near them ?and worse, living next to them," she said, according to the official video recording of the meeting.
Assistant Professor of German Jill Smith also spoke in favor of the appellants. Referring to Tricia Welsch and the other neighbors, she explained that, "They've invested time and care [into their homes] and a decision that goes against this appeal undermines a certain sense of community and the time and care these residents have shown."
Some of the students, who were not present at the hearing but who were shown portions of it on video, disagreed.
"While I understand the concern that residents have, I don't think that our group of people who are going to be living in that house are going to adversely affect the community," Mike Tillotson '08 said.
Chris Burrage '08 agreed.
"We are looking forward to easing their concerns and becoming good neighbors with them," he said.
At the ZBA hearing, Grace Seretakis, the brothers' mother, spoke against the appeal.
"I want to emphasize that my sons are not outside investors interested solely in realizing a profit. This was to be their summer home?the realization of a long-time dream to be near their alma mater," she said according to video of the hearing.
"A lot of time, money and love have been poured into 17 Cleaveland St. This property will be immaculately maintained and inhabited by two households of mature, carefully-screened Bowdoin College seniors," Ms. Seretakis added.
The Board denied the neighbors' appeal in a vote of 3-2.
Welsch and the other neighbors asked that the ZBA re-examine its decision. In a 5-0 vote, the board denied their request. The group has appealed the ZBA's decisions to a court of law.
No date has yet been set for the neighbors' appeal to the Cumberland County Superior Court.
For many in the community, this case has raised significant concerns about students living in off-campus housing.
When students move in, "the dynamics of the neighborhood change dramatically," said Kaplan, the anthropology professor. In an interview with the Orient, she emphasized that "It's not about these 11 students," but about the precedent being set by allowing them to live in a historic house in a historic district.
For Kaplan, this case also brings up the issue of student readiness to take on the responsibilities of living outside the Bowdoin bubble.
"Suddenly you are responsible for a house and all the activity that goes on in that house," Kaplan said. "How aware are students when they move off campus that they are taking on all that responsibility?"
To combat growing concerns from neighbors of students living off-campus, this year Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols and Director of Residential Life Kim Pacelli have visited or will visit every group of students living off-campus in their home. (The visits are voluntary but all off-campus students have accepted Nichols' and Pacelli's offer.)
So far, according to Nichols, the meetings have been "productive and well-received."
In an interview, Dean of Students Affairs Tim Foster empathized with the concerns of off-campus students' neighbors?he himself lives near off-campus students.
"Are there times when it's noisy at night? Yes," he said. "Are there times when someone might help themselves to a tomato in my garden? Yes. Are there time when I find a cup on the lawn? Yes," he said.
"But do I benefit tremendously from living on the periphery of a college campus? Absolutely I do," Foster said.