The Respect Orange team has reviewed Chapman University’s Specific Plan Amendment #7 (SP7). The City of Orange will be studying the SP7 over the course of the next few months and want input from local residents. All letters are due by Monday, January 27, 2020.
Send comments to: Kelly Christensen Ribuffo, Associate Planner – Historic Preservation City of Orange, 300 East Chapman Avenue, Orange, CA. 92866 (714) 744-7223, and kribuffo@cityoforange.org
A few things we believe the community should be aware of and we encourage you to include in your letter to the City.:
FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT (“FTE”) vs. ACTUAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS
SP7 is defining a full-time student as one taking 12 units. Rather than putting a hard cap on the number of students, Chapman want to count students based on FTE. This means that a student taking 12 units is one student A student taking 6 units is 1/2 a student. Their FTE cap is 10,185
Unfortunately the real world does not drive a fraction of a car, make a fraction of a noise, or create a fraction of traffic congestion.
With the rapid pace of how educational instruction is being administered, such as more content being delivered online and woven into work and family schedules, is plausible to have 100,000 students each taking 1 credit on campus. This would put the FTE under the 10,185 number, but create enormous impacts to the neighborhood and community.
Adding students necessitates more faculty, staff, administrative support, etc. These employees, volunteers and docents that also have impacts on the community.
STUDENTS LIVING ON CAMPUS
Chapman University has done a good on building student dormitories, however they still have a long way to go to reverse the negative impacts of their decision to outsource student housing. CU has committed to housing only 50% of their student population.
CU is proposing an increase of roughly 1843 students. 50% housed equates to 922 not housed. At 4 students per house, this is the equivalent of 230 additional houses in the community that will be student occupied. Respect Orange firmly believes this erodes the family community that roots our community.
Respect Orange want to support Chapman University and believes 90% of students should be housed by CU.
ORANGE PD CALLS RELATED TO CU CONTINUES TO INCREASE
Residents continue to be frustrated at Chapman University outsourcing student housing the the family-oriented community. Chapman University disruptions to the community continue to climb and were up more than than 21% last year. The number should be higher on a per capita basis, considering a portion of CU student housing was sent to Anaheim.
| TIME PERIOD | OPD CALLS | % INCREASE |
|---|---|---|
| 07/01/15 - 06/30/16 | 227 | - |
| 07/01/16 - 06/30/17 | 198 | (12.77%) |
| 07/01/17 - 06/30/18 | 218 | 10.1% |
| 07/01/18 - 06/30/19 | 264 | 21.1% |
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY IS PROPOSING A 32% REDUCTION IN PARKING
Chapman University is proposing to reduce its parking requirements from 0.6 per dorm unit to 0.41 per dorm unit arguing that they have a shuttle service for students and that on campus parking is not maximized. However, only 632 students use the shuttle to get to campus, which is only about 7% of their student population. CU has received parking complaints at .33 per dorm in Panther Village and had to build temporary parking to relieve the parking issue.
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY IS PROPOSING A 16.7% REDUCTION IN OPEN SPACE
Chapman University is proposing a reduction of close to 20% in open space according to SP7. Open space has a significant role in urban development. Open space joins the surrounding environments, provides a sense of direction in a campus by integrating and organizing different places and elements; they also can provide an esthetic sense by involving attractive surroundings and creating visual surprises.
Additionally, it was Chapman’s choice to build an under used Musco Center and other campus amenities that are not geared to the majority of the student population.
BUILD MORE STUDENT HOUSING
There was community support for Chapman University purchasing the property behind Panther Village because it was understood that the property would be developed for student housing. According to CU, the property Panther Village is no longer a priority. The University should use some of its resources to maximize the density on this property to build a second student housing facility in order to provide housing for more of their students.
Earth Moving Hauls and Grading
The current SP suggests any hauling of earth materials (i.e. dirt) in excess of 30,000 cubic yards requires City Council Approval. Let’s put that in perspective: 30,000 cubic yards is the equivalent of 6,000 round trip dump truck trips. 6,000 vehicles in the historic district creating dust, additional traffic, and impacting the lives of residents. Respect Orange suggests City Council Approval in excess of 1000 cubic yards.