I see action is finally being taken against off-campus party houses ("Police put pressure on rowdy college parties," May 19, and "Booze battle brews at UMD," May 24).
Long overdue, I say. Those of us forced to live by such houses have paid high prices already.
When my family and I bought our house 46 years ago, it was on a dead-end street with railroad tracks below us, a birch woods to the east and family homes all around. There were children in most of the other homes for our three kids to play with. And Congdon, Ordean and East schools all were within walking distance. It was a nice, friendly, family neighborhood, not even a duplex in sight; just a wonderful place to raise a family.
All that changed when the house across the street was sold and turned in to a college house. By city ordinance, only six people were allowed to live there, but you could count eight cars parked there every day. When I called City Hall to ask about that, I was told the city had to call the day before inspecting, which gave tenants time to remove extra beds and move cars.
Our neighborhood is listed R-1b residential, which allows single-family homes, two-family homes, child care operations, group-family operations, blood-related and six unrelated people to live together. That covers college houses.
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Maybe there are college houses in Duluth that fit into quiet, family neighborhoods, but when they become party houses, look out. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, neighbors can expect parties with cars pouring in at all hours, loud music pounding out and entering their homes so they can't sleep, cars coming and going, horns beeping, people yelling and laughing, and doors slamming. Neighbors can expect not to be able to sleep until the party breaks up at around 3 a.m.
I recall two instances when I called 911 to ask if the music could just be turned down. The police came, and the music became quieter, but I woke up the next morning to find my fence vandalized and beer cans all over my lawn. The next time I found beer bottles smashed in my driveway and a car, which was parked in front of my house, vandalized. It was scratched with a key so severely it had to be repainted. I felt terrible. It wasn't my car; it was my neighbor's car. I don't own a car anymore.
These sorts of activities are inexcusable. A lady I know who lives near the University of Minnesota Duluth had a rock thrown through her window after she called police.
When college parties break up, drunken drivers pour into our streets, some under-aged. Who buys their beer or liquor? Does the party house provide it? If an accident occurred, could the landlord of the party house be sued for allowing such a thing to happen on his or her property?
I am grateful UMD is going to set strong guidelines concerning this serious problem. I'm grateful not only for myself but also for the young people who naively think nothing can happen to them if they get drunk. Every year, it seems, we read in the News Tribune about a young life lost as a result of attending a party. It is so heartbreaking.
The city of Duluth must work together with UMD on this serious problem. Police are over-worked breaking up these parties all over town. It takes up too much of their valuable time.
Koni Sundquist lives in Duluth's Congdon Park neighborhood.
