Student housing on the horizon? York County Community College eyes dorms on campus

WELLS, Maine — York County Community College is pursuing two proposals that, if approved by voters, eventually could lead to dorms on campus.

Chris Burbank, the college’s director of strategic initiatives and partnerships, presented two “asks” to the Wells Planning Board on June 26.

The first one: Burbank said YCCC is hoping that an overlay district could be established on the College Drive campus, enabling the school to build dormitories at some point in the coming years. The second one: Burbank added that the college is hoping the town could amend its ordinance that limits the stays of transient guests at local lodging facilities to 28 days, so that students may stay at them for longer periods while YCCC does not have on-campus housing.

Burbank told the board that YCCC is currently conducting a housing feasibility study that has included reaching out to students, local businesses, and other colleges and universities. He said YCCC believes the study likely will show evidence supporting dorms on campus.

Currently, YCCC is partnering with the local Hampton Inn on Post Road to provide housing for some students. Due to the town’s 28-day limit for transient guests, the college has had to “be creative” and schedule field trips and other circumstances to get students moved out of their hotel rooms, according to Burbank.

Burbank said 23 YCCC students stayed at the inn during the last fall semester, and 22 did so during the recent spring one.

“It was a tremendous success, from the school’s standpoint, establishing a need,” Burbank said. “The students liked it. We were able to recruit from a wider base, a wider geographic region. It brought people to this area and expanded our footprint.”

Planning Board member Steve Koeninger expressed concerns that students could take advantage of the arrangement with the Hampton Inn – say, enroll in a single class, but skip it, all the while enjoying living at the hotel. Burbank said YCCC has criteria, related to matriculation, course load, grade-point average, and other factors, that students have to meet to stay at off-campus lodging.

“I’m very happy to report … we actually didn’t have to deal with one complaint, nor did the police department, knock on wood, ever have to respond to a report over there,” Burbank said.

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Town engineer: Select Board split on off-campus housing

Town Engineer Mike Livingston said the local Select Board fully supported creating the overlay district but was split on the college’s proposal for off-campus lodging.

The Planning Board scheduled a public hearing on YCCC’s twin proposals for Monday, July 10. The hearing will take place during the board's meeting at the Wells Town Hall on Sanford Road at 7 p.m.

After the hearing, the Planning Board will report back to the Select Board with its decision on whether to recommend one or both of the college’s requests. Ultimately, voters would determine the fate of the two issues at the polls.

During the discussion, Planning Board Chair Charles Millian said he thought the idea of housing on campus is “fantastic,” adding, “a school should have dormitories on it.”

However, Millian expressed wariness about the relationship between YCCC and the town. Specifically, he mentioned the town’s efforts years ago to build an access road leading from Route 1, at the intersection with Mile Road, to the campus. Such a road would have eased traffic congestion on Route 1, he noted.

“The school ixnayed everything and wouldn’t allow us to do anything because it was hooray-for-the-school and screw-the-town,” Millian said.

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Burbank, who was not a member of the YCCC staff at that time, noted to the board that the school had been under a completely different administration then.

“Some people are like elephants,” Millian responded. “They don’t forget.”

Burbank told the Planning Board that on-campus dorms would not “happen overnight,” if voters were to approve the college’s two requests.

“We’re just trying to lay the plans in place as we build our next comprehensive plan, our next strategic plan,” he said.

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York County Community College wants to work with town

Burbank expressed hopes this week that the college and town could work together.

“We want to be good community partners and stewards,” he said.

Burbank said YCCC is preparing to hold social events and tours for residents who want to learn about President Michael Fischer’s vision for the college, including plans related to housing.

“We truly want to be 100% transparent with this,” he said. “We strongly encourage the community to contact YCCC. We will make ourselves available.”

Burbank said that dorms at YCCC could help bring younger people to a state known for having the oldest population in the nation. Dorms would allow the college to recruit students from New Hampshire and Massachusetts and beyond – something that, ultimately, could bode well for the state’s workforce if such students decide to make their lives here in Maine.

“We can only do that if we have the opportunity for housing,” Burbank said. “We see this as a great opportunity to bring a skilled, educated workforce to the state of Maine.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York County Community College eyes student dorms on campus in Wells