Durham considers policies to improve relations between UNH students and town residents

It’s a conflict that exists in virtually every college town. Students party, yell, litter, fight and carouse the streets late into the night, irritating families who live nearby. There’s no easy solution to the problem, but as the University of New Hampshire’s fall semester gets underway, Durham police, town officials and school administrators are brainstorming ways to ease the tension between students and residents.

Police Chief David Kurz said complaints from residents have increased in recent years as students have spread into residential neighborhoods.

“There was clearly a cry from the community about student housing being in previously residential areas. As you would suspect, that’s like an inherent conflict,” he said. “People who are trying to get sleep to get up in the morning all of a sudden find themselves in a neighborhood where people are not even stirring until 10 o’clock at night and often making noise until 3 or 4 in the morning.”

Already, the Durham Town Council has approved a more restrictive noise ordinance that is easier for police to enforce. The revised ordinance restricts loud noise between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. (the previous ordinance was in effect from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.). And, police are no longer required to measure noise levels with a decibel meter in order to enforce the law. Now, noise must simply be kept to a “reasonable and prudent” level, Kurz said.

Also, the new ordinance eliminates a provision requiring a witness to testify if a noise complaint goes to court. This was often a problem, Kurz explained, because people who call in noise complaints often remain anonymous. Under the new ordinance, the responding officer can testify without calling additional witnesses.

Kurz stressed that residents can call police with noise complaints even during the day, when the ordinance is not in effect.

“There’s no time limit on when a person can be annoyed or bothered by what they perceive as loud noise,” he said. “It only means that the police can’t write a summons for a violation of the ordinance (outside of those hours), but it doesn’t mean police aren’t going to respond and attempt to deal with it.”

Police responding to noise complaints often witness other crimes, such as underage drinking, littering and fighting, Kurz said.

The Police Department is also pushing for a proposed “disorderly house” ordinance, which would penalize landlords or owners of properties that frequently trigger complaints. Kurz said economic conditions have spurred many property owners to rent their houses to UNH students and move out of town.

“Oftentimes, we find the problematic properties are those that are owned by absentee landlords who don’t really have a vested interest in the neighborhood or in Durham,” Kurz said. “If that becomes problematic, the house, after two calls to the property, can be deemed a disorderly house.”

Kurz said the Police Department alerts landlords to any police activity at their properties and attempts to work with them to resolve the issue. “If they are not interested in working with me or seem cavalier about their approach to dealing with this, we can deem the house disorderly and fine the property owner,” Kurz said.

A public hearing about the disorderly house ordinance will be held at Town Hall on Monday, Sept. 13. The Town Council could vote on the measure after accepting public comments.

Kurz has some hesitations about other proposed laws, including a “large gathering” ordinance, which would require people to attain a permit before hosting a gathering of more than 25 people. Kurz noted that any town ordinance applies not only to UNH students but to all residents of Durham. If the ordinance passes, he said, residents will have to seek a permit before hosting a large family gathering.

Kurz also has mixed feelings about UNH’s proposed Good Samaritan Policy, which would provide academic amnesty to students who request medical attention for drug- or alcohol-related emergencies. Although the policy would potentially protect students from university sanctions, it would not shield them from criminal charges.

“The basic concept is to remove fear of conduct sanctions as a possible impediment to students calling for help for themselves (or others) when in situations where bad choices about alcohol have potentially imperiled them (or others),” said Mark Rubinstein, vice president of student and academic services at UNH, in an email.

The school is considering implementing a pilot program for the policy this fall, but the details have not been finalized.

“While we have some concerns about the proposal, we are working with our student leadership to develop a pilot to test the premise that this type of policy could make a difference in protecting students’ wellbeing,” Rubinstein said.

Although he’s “all for” any policy that would potentially save a young person’s life, Kurz said he is committed to enforcing the law. He said he understands that college students are going to experiment with alcohol, but those students must be prepared to accept the consequences of their actions.

Rubinstein acknowledged that some conflicts have arisen between students and residents, but he called those issues “acute and specific,” usually involving “particular tenants of particular rental properties.”

“I think that the vast majority of our students already coexist peacefully with the vast majority of Durham residents,” he said. “It is unfortunate, but these situations tend to overshadow a lot of constructive relationships between our students and year-round residents of the town of Durham.”

Kurz emphasized that no single ordinance will fix the existing problems. UNH is a valued part of Durham, he said, and maintaining positive relations between students and residents must be a continual, town-wide effort.

“I try to make it very clear that we are not going to create laws that are going to get us out of the situation of having noise or students,” he said. “We’ve got to figure out as a community how we’re going to live together.”

Town administrator Todd Selig was unavailable for comment last week, and Town Council chair Diana Carroll did not return a phone message left at her home.