September 25 2013
rusader www.crusadernews.com
Year 45, No. 2
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Liberal, KS Permit NO.114
Liberal, Kansas
“The city of Liberal has done numerous housing studies and has found that there are companies wanting to move to Liberal but the city lacks adequate housing to be able to justify such a move.”
Biology camps out in Palo Duro — Pages 2-3B
— Shannon Francis
courtesy illustration/Shannon Francis
An aerial view of the proposed site of new apartments just south of Billy’s Mexican Grill and Spencer Browne’s coffee shop in the Village Plaza. The site promises a 48-unit apartment complex with two bedrooms and two baths in each unit within walking distance of convenient amenities.
Self-defense kicks up safety — Page 1B
Riley blocks out fear — Page 6
Part 1 of a Series on Housing
Liberal’s lack of housing prompts action from leaders Dawn Shouse Kristy Flowers Makiah Adams Crusader staff report
Duck quacks up crowd — Page 4B
NT THE HU FOR NG HOUSI
Drew Whittaker moved to Liberal to teach social studies and coach basketball, but finding a place to live presented problems. “I had an extremely hard time finding a place to live here. I looked at six places in three days, and all those places were way too expensive. The places were unimpressive for what they were asking, and it just wasn’t worth it,” Whittaker said. “I ended up renting a room from another teacher who was already living here. He has a very nice house, but I would still love to have a place of my own.” Whittaker wasn’t alone in his search for housing. He said that one day before the start of the school year there were 10-15 teachers still looking for housing in Liberal. Whittaker rented a room and stayed, but the housing situation has turned away potential employees and been a detriment to incoming businesses. Whether it’s rental houses, apartments or even dorm rooms, the limited housing in Liberal has caused problems. To help alleviate this problem, Shannon Francis, the owner of Spencer Browne’s coffee shop, and Marvin Chance of Mortgages Unlimited are looking to build new housing units so more people will move to Liberal. “We wanted to build something that would be unique to Liberal. Garden City and Dodge have nothing like this,” Chance said. “We are definitely looking
Crusader photo/Dawn Shouse
Liberal residents searching for housing have had to get creative with their living arrangements. Some have even made homes in a quonset renovated into apartments near Clay Avenue and Highway 54. into developing the land in between Billy’s Mexican Grill and the strip mall that includes Spencer Browne’s coffee shop,” Francis said. “The city of Liberal has done numerous housing studies and has found that there are companies wanting to move to Liberal but the city lacks adequate housing to be able to justify such a move.” Francis and Chance have proposed a 48-unit apartment complex with two bedrooms and two baths in each unit. Francis said the idea behind the placement of the housing, to be called The Village at The Plaza, is that residents will be able to walk out the door to coffee shops, banks, grocery stores and restaurants. “We wanted to create something exciting and new that will help all the local businesses,” Chance said. “What makes it exciting for me is the location of the project. In fact, I will not do the project unless we get that lo-
cation.” “The success of the project will be reliant on state grants that encourage moderate income housing in rural Kansas,” Francis said. A grant such as the Rural Housing and Incentive Districts is a program that could affect the plans to build. Dodgecityhousing.com said RHID “is a program designed to aid developers to build housing within communities by assisting in the financing of public improvements…RHID is authorized for any city in Kansas with a population less than 40,000, in a county with a population of less than 60,000 or for any county with a population of less than 40,000.” Marvin Chance, who is also a Board of Trustee member at Seward County Community College, said housing projects like this “will help alleviate the overcrowding issues at the college in the dorms.”
More housing in Liberal will help give college students living options if the Student Living Center is full. Director of the Student Living Center Kate Mulligan confirmed the SCCC dorms are near capacity. “We’re pretty full. I’d say we’re about 95 to 97 percent full,” Mulligan said. “There’s a waiting list for people to move into the Student Living Center right now.” As of now, there are no future plans to add more housing on campus. “If we consistently have an overcrowding issue that continues through the semester that starts with January, then we will look into building more dorms,” Chance said. SCCC Dean of Finance and Operations Dennis Sander said that although there are no immediate plans to build more housing on campus, “additional housing is a part of our long range planning, should the col-
lege have a sustained enrollment growth.” Apartments in Liberal are also experiencing a bigger demand than availability. Ronda Widener, manager of Windtree Apartments, said of the 121 apartments in the complex, “We are 100 percent full and we won’t have any openings until the middle of October. “We have approximately 2030 applicants on hold and we get five to six calls a day from people looking for a place to live,” Widener said. “I would definitely say that there is a housing crisis here in Liberal.” Liberal City Commissioner Joe Denoyer also recognizes that housing is a major issue. “The studies that the city has conducted have shown that we are desperately short of housing and that we need to be building much faster to meet the needs of our growing population,” Denoyer said. “It means that we as city leaders need to be pro-housing and with the housing need as great as it is, we need to be as proactive as possible.” During the city council meeting Tuesday night, Commissioner Denoyer made the motion to approve the RHID and the proposed apartment site with a second from Vice Mayor Willimon. The council voted 5-0 and approved the plan. Shortly after the vote, Shannon Francis reacted to the approval. “We just want to thank the city for their support in our new project. We are very excited about building a great new project that will help the area businesses. “The is a great first step, but there is a lot more work to come,” Francis said.
Security puts the brakes on speeding Maria Lara Crusader staff
Students beef up meal time — Page 4
Multiple warnings have been given to students for speeding violations on both main campus and area technical school in the past month, according to head of security, Dennis Mulanax. “All students are reminded to slow down and use caution when driving on all college properties, including the Area Technical School,” Mulanax said. The speed limit is 20 miles per hour everywhere on campus property, unless authorized otherwise, as established by city, state and federal laws for school zones. The Area Technical School’s
speed limit is 10 miles per hour. “Excessive speeds will not be tolerated,” according to the campus security page at sccc.edu. Students are to be more cautious of rules that are stated either in the parking lot itself, on the online homepage of the college, or verbally. If violations do not decrease, administrative action will take place. “Conform to all the regulations and be seen as a safe driver; not a rule violator,” Mulanax said. Safety is one of Seward County Community College’s top priorities and speeding whether by a student, a member of the faculty or a campus visitor is a clear danger to pedestrians, Mulanax
said. The layout of the parking lots requires pedestrians to cross the circle drive, making speed control important. “Each individual has that responsibility to act in a safe manner and report things that are not safe,” Mulanax said. All cooperation from everyone is needed in order for these regulations to run smoothly. The speed limit on all college properties is 20 miles per hour and the Area Technical School is 10 miles per hour. Security plans not to permit anyone to break the rules, violate the laws, and jeopardize others safety.
Crusader photo/Maria Lara
The speed limit sign posted on the south campus entrance reminds drivers of the 20 mph rule. Although this is the only sign on the main campus, all college roads are the same speed, except for posted 10 mph zones at the technical school.