Landlords that are housing Quinnipiac students in Hamden now have a new set of rules to follow.
In response to complaints by neighbors, the Hamden Planning and Zoning Commission approved a new set of rules that landlords must follow. According to the new rules, all student housing must pass health, fire and building inspections.
In addition to these inspections, the houses must be equipped with one parking space per student. These spaces can be in the street, the driveway or in the back yard. Students will not be permitted to park on the front or side lawns.
Landlords will also be required to supply each house with garbage cans, along with a schedule of Hamden’s trash and recyclable pick-up days.
These new rules are not just for Quinnipiac students, however. The rule applies to students from any school that live in Hamden.
Molly Boyle, a junior at Quinnipiac that lives in a house on New Road, said that she feels the new rules will be helpful for everyone. “I think the parking rule will help the most,” she said. “The new rules will help lessen the tension between our Hamden neighbors,” she said.
Bill Battipaglia, who has lived on New Road for almost five years, said he does not know how much the rules will help.
“The new rules may satisfy some, but there’s a bigger problem here,” he said. “It’s not these guys,” he said, pointing to his neighbors. “It’s all of the students collectively.”
Battipaglia said that he constantly hears students driving by honking their horns late at night. “I’ve seen almost all of my neighbors move out because of all the noise,” he said.
According to Stacey Jackson, who works for Residential Life, “We try to work hard to make it fair for everyone.”
Jackson said she is pleased with the students’ behavior. “The students have done an awesome job of knowing that they’re living in a community and not a campus,” she said. “I’ve actually gotten several calls from neighbors saying that we’ve done a good job.”