Fredericksburg and University of Mary Washington officials could be talking more in the future.
On April 26, representatives from the neighborhoods around the university, along with City Council members and city staff, will gather with UMW President William Frawley and other school officials.
Clyde Matthews, president of the College Heights Civic Association, says he hopes the meeting will be the start of a formal town-gown committee where concerns between the college and city could be shared on a more regular basis.
Matthews said he was heartened to hear Frawley bring up the idea of such a committee when he first met him last summer.
"I feel the communication is much better than it's been in the past, and it certainly can be better, and that's what we're hoping to do with the town-gown committee," Matthews said.
The groups should have plenty to talk about.
Concerns over trailers the university has put on College Avenue, its decision to buy two homes on that road and worries about UMW's impact on stormwater issues in the College Terrace neighborhood have all surfaced in recent months.
The trailers have sparked a particularly strong response from residents of the College Heights neighborhood. The structures are housing displaced employees while the school renovates Lee Hall.
While Matthews feels he was made aware of the plan to install the trailers ahead of time, not everyone agrees.
Matt Boyd, who lives directly across College Avenue from the temporary buildings, said the only communication he remembers is a notice a couple of days before the university closed the road to install the trailers.
He said he knew about them beforehand only because he had asked the workers who were preparing the site what was going on.
The university is building a stone wall with a fence on top to screen the trailers from view.
"Our options with those trailers were very limited," said Richard Hurley, UMW's vice president for administration and finance. "We certainly didn't want to take that green space away. It takes away from the look of the campus."
Still, the prospect that the trailers could be in place through the fall of 2011, as renovations to various other campus buildings follow Lee Hall, has some folks concerned.
"This is a semipermanent feature that really does detract from the neighbors right across the street," said Vice Mayor Kerry Devine, a Mary Washington College alumna and College Heights resident.
She said she hopes more regular communication will keep people from feeling blind-sided by moves like this.
Hurley emphasized that the startup of the town-gown committee was not prompted by the reaction to the trailers.
"It's the arrival of the new president and his desire to open up the lines of communication," he said.
City Manager Phillip Rodenberg said city and university officials already talk on a less formal basis, but the committee would be a way to ensure "that we don't let too much time pass before we sit down and talk about some of the most important activities and issues that we're dealing with."
Some council members are eager for more communication between the two groups.
As a state institution, the university does not have to follow the city's zoning, setback or parking requirements.
Councilman Matt Kelly, another Mary Washington College alumnus, said that has made parking a problem on Hanover Street, where the university's new tennis center and athletic complex are located.
Cars overflow onto the street whenever large events are going on, and Kelly said he had to park three blocks from his own house on Hanover during one recent event.
Kelly also said he'd like to talk about the impact that university land purchases, like the planned purchase of two homes on College Avenue, has on the city's real-estate tax base.
Meanwhile, the university has its own list of issues it would like to discuss with the city.
Hurley said he would like to talk to the city about stronger enforcement of rules that it can't enforce, like the zoning rule that no more than three unrelated people can live in a house together, or parking regulations.
"Our jurisdiction does not extend into those areas," he said. "A lot of people blame us for that."
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413| Fredericksburg city officials, UMW staff members and College Heights residents will have discussions about:
The university's use of temporary trailers on College Avenue
UMW's purchase Lost parking because of a new tennis center Too many students living in rental units around the university |
| 1201 William St. After renovation, this house and its neighbor could house up to 30 offices for professors. |
| 1004 College Ave. Contract price is $1.1 million for the 5,000-square-foot home, constructed in 1975. |
| College Avenue The trailers will be used while renovations are done at other buildings on the university's campus. |