Franklin & Marshall College officials on Wednesday promised a bright future for their neighbors in northwest Lancaster City.

The college, working with real estate developer Kevin Silverang, wants to renovate existing off-campus student apartments and control student behavior for what it says is the benefit of all.

But the 125 residents who attended the city Planning Commission meeting focused on the present and the past.

They listened politely to the presentation on the college's request for a zoning change, then drew from their current situation and historical grievances in uniformly rejecting the proposal.

Speaker after speaker in the second half of the nearly three-hour meeting cited the disturbance caused by loud, drunken college students in their neighborhood. And, they said, the college's proposal to rein them in now are empty and unenforceable.

At the end of the night, the seven-member Planning Commission — which makes recommendations but not decisions on rezonings — voted to table the request for a student housing overlay district. It will revisit the issue at its next meeting, on Wednesday, March 5.

Commission Chairman Fred Ward said he expected the next meeting to be a lot like the one Wednesday in Southern Market Center. He predicted the same for the City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 11.

Ward said the planners could end up advising council to reject the measure.

"If we're not getting good vibes coming out of here, I can't imagine that we'd recommend it," said Ward. Still, he said, council members will have the final say.

The college's request involves establishing a special zoning designation for higher education institutions in the northwest area of the city. It would include other schools within the area, such as the Lancaster Theological Seminary and the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.

The overlay would replace existing zoning, which allows only two or three unrelated people in each housing unit. The new zoning would allow one student per bedroom in residential property controlled by the school.

F&M spokesman Keith Orris said the college needs rooms for 240 students over the next decade while it renovates existing dormitories and constructs a new dormitory on the main part of its campus, near the new Life Sciences Building. The new building won't be completed for about three years, Orris said.

The college has a 10-year agreement with Silverang Hallowell Development Company, of suburban Philadelphia, to own and manage off-campus residential properties for student housing.

The company has already purchased or has under agreement 16 properties which would supply 219 student rooms. The company plans to invest $17 million in the program, which includes renovating the properties to bring them up to current city housing and safety codes and adding sprinkler and fire alarm systems, said Kevin Silverang, a college alumna.

After 10 years, the buildings could be sold or be rented to the public as market-rate housing, he said.

Orris said the plan allows the college to exert some control over off-campus student housing. In recent years, students lived at as many as 121 different off-campus addresses and rented from 91 different landlords. With the contract with Silverang, students would be required to live in a Silverang Hallowell property and sign a conduct contract to ensure their good behavior.

Audience members laughed.

"You can't control it. I don't care what you say. The city police can't control it," said neighborhood resident and landlord Charlie Smithgall, who dealt with problem college parties during his two terms as mayor.

Parking was also a concern. Students living in the College Hill apartments have shown that they will not park their cars in assigned student lots if they can park in a neighborhood curbside space closer to their apartments, Smithgall and other residents contended.

Several residents said the zoning change is not needed for the college to fulfill its plans. The only substantive change is an increase in the number of students that may live in a house, thereby making it more profitable for Silverang.

Afterward, Silverang acknowledged that it would be a hardship for his company if the overlay zoning is not approved. And it would force him to look for housing already divided into multiple units. That would mean less investment in the neighborhood, he said.

"The audience, while well-meaning is asking for a remedy that I think will have a significant adverse effect on the neighborhood," Silverang said.

David Hommel, of North Mulberry Street, said limits on unrelated people contained in the current zoning is the only protection residents have against a downward slide in their neighborhood. And, he said they are being asked to give that away based on the college's promises.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions and I have no intention of going down that road," Hommel said.

CONTACT US: bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022