COLUMN: Zoning changes will destroy fragile resident-student dynamic
I'm too young to remember Joe McCarthy, but most of our city officials are not.
For those who don't know of McCarthy, he was a U.S. senator responsible for a wave of anxiety and persecution of American citizens believed to be Communist sympathizers.
Through fear, McCarthy coaxed the government, the FBI and other public figures into a crusade against immaterial agitators who were in no way associated with Communist subversion.
On Monday, Mount Pleasant residents reminded me of McCarthy.
This week, Mount Pleasant's City Commission passed a resolution to overhaul zoning ordinances in the M2 district, an area north of Central Michigan University's campus made up of mostly student housing.
By creating a buffer zone between students and residents, commissioners hope to curb student behavior and restore a delicate balance of peace in residential areas.
As a 27-year-old student reporter covering city government, I'm often inclined to side with residents than the rowdy denizens of Main Street. I do not, however, agree with city's haphazard decision to support the buffer zone concept out of fear.
Essentially, the idea of a buffer zone is a genius fix for ordinance issues, but it's a concept board members have been kicking around for a good long while. The buffer zone conversation started in the Planning Commission, and has undergone several informal amendments regarding how it could work.
Each time they revisit the idea, planning commissioners inevitably shelf the discussion due to its complications. It is the kind of temperance we should expect from quality elected officials.
City commissioners showed no such tact when they implemented the zone without the necessary consideration. At Monday's meeting, at least two commissioners made motions to postpone a vote for further discussion. Those motions were shot down.
Why? Fear.
Residents say the city no longer feels like their home; that they are no longer safe in their own streets from vandalism, trash and destructive college students. The truth is: this city belongs to all of us, and not every student house is to blame.
I am in no way condoning the actions of poorly behaved students, but history has shown that policies, committees or mobs forged from fear end with some degree of tragedy.
It's the same mentality that started McCarthyism and the second Red Scare. As commissioners move forward, they must consider the consequences of ramming a buffer zone down our throats.
They must examine the consequences of police overreach and, most of all, the dangers of succumbing to public outrage.
I'm too young to remember Joe McCarthy, but I hope commissioners remember what happens when terror clouds judgement.
