City of Kent balances student with family life

The City of Kent, neighboring Ohio’s second largest university, Kent State, has long held its own identity separate from that of the institution it borders. Though housing immediately around campus is mostly inhabited by students, much of the City is still covered in residential zoning, where student and boarding housing regulations are more strict. And as Kent State’s population in first year students continues to grow every year, the concern of student spillage into these residential zones is a common occurrence.

But according to Heather Phile, the city’s development planner, the student demand for housing in these residential zone boarding houses is actually decreasing.

“A housing study was done last year, and it showed that the overall trend of students is decreasing and the feeder schools in the area have a decline in enrollment,” Phile said. “With the overall decrease, additional housing in these zones will not be needed.”

The bigger issue, according to Phile, is the need for single family residences and senior housing. However, she also points to an influx of demand for “student rental” multi-family apartment buildings, which have led to the addition of the 345 Flats and the Landmark apartment complexes. The new additions have seen 2,100 beds added to the City since 2010.

However, Phile still notes that despite the decrease in demand, instances of students violating zoning code and residing with three or more unrelated people in a residential zone happen, “all the time.”

“We hear about most of the violations by neighbors calling to complain,” Phile said. “We have a full time Code Enforcement officer that handles the complaints by investigating, talking with the property owners, and sending out violation letters.”

For Kent State students like Austin Gembar and Thai McLoughlin, these realities can create difficulty. Together, they and a third roommate, lived in a residential zone on North Depeyster Street. However, the three friends were violating residential zoning regulations.

“Our landlord had warned us of the zoning laws when we moved in, but said he didn’t think we would have an issue,” said McLoughlin, whose father owns the property. “Then one day a guy from the City came and asked how many people lived here and how we were related.” The boys suspected that having three cars in the driveway at all times was what did them in.

When students or other boarders are found to be in violation of code, the City has an approach to remedy the situation. “We send a violation notice letter first, and give the property owner time to remedy the situation,” said Phile. “If they do not, we assess fines.  If the do not pay the fines, we can take them to court.”

Luckily for the boys on North Depeyster, who were given until the end of their lease to get back to a sufficient number of people, they never saw the second or third step. “We notify the property owner of the violation, and they must remedy the situation/violation by removing someone,” said Phile.

The stickiness of the zoning can also be tricky for landlords, too, who often find that students are unaware of the restrictions. “I’ll have kids call me who are all excited about a place and have no idea what the term ‘boarding house’ even means,” said Nathan Veach, who owns a property on Summit Street. “I’ll have to explain to them that just because you have more than enough people to fill a house, doesn’t automatically mean you can live there.”

Even as the student population of Kent State University has continued to grow, and expansion and development attempting to tie the two together progress, the City does not actively seek to reassess zone sizes. According to Phile, the updated zoning map shown below has not changed much in the last 15 years.

The question for many in the City is still whether or not families enjoy having students nestled into their neighborhoods. “I have heard both sides of the story with this one,” said Phile. “When people hear that ‘students’ will be moving in next door, they tend to immediately call us to complain.  However, some of the residents feel that if the ‘students’ are well behaved, quiet, and considerate of their neighbors, they tend to be okay with them living next door.”