Despite the current moratorium on construction, some of Auburn's long-term residents are still unsure of whether expansion is the best decision for the community.
Keep Auburn Lovely welcomed students and community members to a citizens forum meeting Monday Jan. 18 at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center at 7 p.m. to discuss the future of Auburn in terms of infrastructure and, more specifically, housing.
Ray Huff, the moderator of the meeting, encouraged attendees to stay involved in conversation and ask questions. Huff stressed the importance of communication between city members and leaders. There were approximately 150 present at the forum.
Huff introduced the keynote speaker, Bill Wright, chairman of Tuscaloosa's Student Housing Task Force, to speak about personal experiences with battling issues that come with rapid growth in college towns such as Auburn and Tuscaloosa.
According to Wright, the Student Housing Task Force of Tuscaloosa was formed by 19 members in 2013. Their first mission was to involve stakeholders, such as students, property owners and other community members to support their mission to preserve and be aware of their city's land.
Fear rested in the construction of huge apartment complexes that would be left vacant when more advanced complexes were built. Complexes built specifically for students do not fit the needs of other residents or families living in the city. Once occupancy drops, the rooms are left vacant and costs are affected negatively, according to Wright.
Many in the meeting felt housing farther from campus should not be considered unlivable, considering the available resources such as Tiger Transits. Many people at the meeting feared downtown Auburn will be compromised by expansion.
Stone Ray, freshman in architecture, spoke to the attendees from a student's point of view about why housing close to campus was vital.
"We refer to Auburn as a village," Ray said. "In a village it should be a right to be able to walk to daily needs, instead of being forced to get a car and travel to a suburban supermarket. This should be made possible by those that preside here."
Huff said he thought there was progress at the meeting. According to Huff, the most important piece to the puzzle is to ensure the city government is on the same page as the University leaders.
"There has to be connection between the city and the college," Huff said. "That's just not happening at the moment."
Multiple city leaders were present at the meeting to listen to those who spoke up about the state of the city. According to Huff, feedback from students and community members would drive those in command to make decisions that better the lives of those who reside in Auburn.
Marlene Bowman, a local realtor, spoke on the importance of conserving Auburn's quaint atmosphere and the problems that could be caused if renovations were not handled well.
"We read about how Auburn is the greatest place to live and retire, which is exactly why we are having this problem," Bowman said. "But our city is not going to be recognizable if we don't control it."
Susan Hunnicutt, public relations organizer for Keep Auburn Lovely, went before the Auburn City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 19, to thank the City Council members who attended Keep Auburn Lovely's citizens forum on Monday, but Hunnicutt also had another idea to introduce.
During the citizens communications at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Hunnicutt proposed the idea of an external citizens' task force on growth with as many as 12-19 members.
"Over this four-and-a-half-month moratorium, I would like to see a task force made up of citizens," Hunnicutt said. "If you could find someone who could be more objective, or at least everyone check their hidden agendas at the door, something valuable could be gained."
Auburn Mayor Bill Ham Jr. highlighted key differences between Tuscaloosa and Auburn, including the distances between campus and downtown. The soul of Auburn's campus, Samford Hall, sits directly across the street from the heart of downtown.
"Our situation is much different in the fact that we've already gone through a comprehensive planning program, two downtown task forces in two different years that were three years apart and also extensive citizen involvement in the Downtown Master Plan that's gone on for over year," said Auburn Mayor Bill Ham.
In Tuscaloosa, downtown is close to 1.5 miles from Denny Chimes and the quad, the center of Alabama's campus. According to members of the City Council, issues of development sprawl in Tuscaloosa are different from the issues Auburn faces with downtown area student housing development.
"We have to have economic growth," Hunnicutt said. "We have to have an increasing tax base, but I don't want to do it at the expense of the soul of Auburn — why we all come back. If you were to decide to appoint a citizen-led task force, I wouldn't object."
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