PROVO -- By now, nearly everyone has chimed in with their ideas about causes and solutions relating to Provo's college student housing issues.
Everyone, that is, except the college students themselves.Aiming to change that, two Brigham Young University graduate students conducted a study of BYU's off-campus housing policies and how those policies affect non-student residents of Provo. The work produced by Allison Griffiths and Becky Nesbit for a course at the Romney Institute of Public Management has attracted the attention of city officials in Provo and Orem.
In recent days, the study has been cited in meetings in both cities. On Thursday, the 30-page document was the centerpiece of a discussion by a Provo committee charged with designing a massive new student housing complex south of campus. The study has not been endorsed by BYU, however.
"This study is interesting because it comes from the students' point of view," said Kevin Callahan, Provo's assistant community development director.
In four months, Griffiths and Nesbit managed a pretty comprehensive piece of work that addresses housing issues and makes several recommendations.
Among the proposed solutions to Provo's housing woes, at least as seen through the eyes of Griffiths and Nesbit, would be for BYU to lower the maximum age for students living in university-approved off-campus housing to 23. Currently, the limit stands at 25 years. The thinking is the change would increase the housing space available to those who are actively attending school and force out some who may no longer be in school but like living in a student-dominated environment.
"A move like this could help to remove some of the negative opinions about BYU-approved housing," the pair concluded.
The management students also recommended that Orem, home to rapidly growing Utah Valley State College, "acknowledge the fact that students are coming to the area and can't be shut out."
Griffiths and Nesbit also said that many student apartments in Provo are dilapidated and should be replaced. But their primary advice was that BYU and Provo not disregard student input when planning projects such as the South Campus Area Master Plan.
Provo has instituted a building moratorium for a large neighborhood south of BYU while a proposal for the housing complex is developed. Two BYU students sit on the committee that is designing the development, which Provo hopes will eventually be built by private developers.
"If SCAMP doesn't meet the needs of the students, if rents are too high or if the apartments don't contain the amenities that students want and need, then the SCAMP project will not be very successful," Griffiths and Nesbit warned.
Callahan suggested to the committee Thursday that Provo's parking requirements for high-density developments may be too high. That raises costs and could thwart what Provo hopes to accomplish, he said.
"In some instances, the cost of providing parking may exceed the cost of building residential units," Callahan said.
Local developer David Gardner said parking requirements are sometimes used as a barrier to development rather than in a genuine effort to accommodate the necessary vehicles.
Provo's student housing committee meets again April 27, and a public open house to receive comment from residents is scheduled for May 3 and 4.
Meanwhile, Orem also has created a student housing committee. Orem officials, too, have seen the work by Griffiths and Nesbit, although they value it primarily for what it says about where UVSC students live: Virtually everywhere in Utah County.