Press Release
CONTACT: Hannah Lorusso
Hannah_lorusso@uri.edu
NARRAGANSETT TOWN COUNCIL DRIVES OUT FAMILIES AND DRIVES UP RENT FOR URI STUDENTS
NARRAGANSETT, RI(February 2023)- Recently, Narragansett town council upheld a housing ordinance that prohibits more than three college students from renting out a single family home in Narragansett, Rhode Island. This ordinance was put in place after years of work and the pandemic hit as the residents of Narragansett claimed they had hoped to curb the excessive partying and disturbances and welcome new families to those homes.
However, the questions arise if this ordinance is constitutional, if it will just increase the number of homes rented to college students, and if the disturbances will change? The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the constitutionality of the Providence college housing ordinance and stated, The lawsuit claims that “there is absolutely no reason to believe that restricting the number of student tenants in a small subset of available rental housing (i.e., single-family homes) will make the affected neighborhoods any quieter, safer or cleaner. On the contrary, the ordinance is an unconstitutional intrusion into the rights of college and graduate students to choose with whom they wish to live, and the rights of property owners to rent their homes to tenants of their choice.”
There is already an increase in police during the college school year in Narragansett, as well as many laws in place for partying, traffic, noise, and any other disturances. They have a parking ban in Narragansett for only September-May which already restricts the number of cars at a house to prevent partying.
The argument then turns full circle from the disturbances in the town to the fact that residents of Narragansett want to see those college homes be rented by families. The fact of that is with a “three person ordinance” the demand goes up for more homes that college students can rent.
As stated in the article Narragansett Town Council once again passes controversial three-student limit, “You’re just opening more demographics of homes available for rent by students, and making homes unaffordable for families and people trying to get into Narragansett,” Murray said. “The volume of homes for rent increased under the three student policy.”
Evan Morrill, director of academic rentals with Narragansett Properties, said he understands the council’s motives. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying to increase the family population of Narragansett,” he said. “But the way you’re doing it is working against you.”
He said that since April, he’s aware of a dozen clients who have “kicked families out and switched over to academic rentals,” to charge higher rents.
Not only are families avoiding Narragansett but charging college aged students outrageous amounts in rent targets the minorities that already struggle to get a college degree. Attorney Levy said regarding a similar housing ordinance in Providence, RI: “The City and State of Rhode Island already have laws in place that regulate overcrowding, loud parties and underage drinking. This ordinance goes too far by attempting to legislate who can live together in the same house. Ultimately, it will have its most significant impact on students from low-income and middle-income families who can’t afford to cover a larger share of the rent in a single-family home.”
You would assume students would stay on campus but that is another situation in itself. Stated in the article Narragansett bans more than 3 college students from living in one home. A lawsuit is probably coming. “According to Pugh’s statistics, while URI’s enrollment increased, the number of beds on campus did not increase as quickly, leaving a gap of 1,900”.
So the question is, what now?
University of Rhode Island students work in the stores, and restaurants in the area, they bring money to the businesses in this otherwise isolated area of Rhode Island, as well as supply the demand to an ever growing rental market. People seem to forget renting is a business itself and college students just want an education in an affordable and comfortable way.
Long-term and short-term residents treating students like they do not matter and offer nothing to Narragansett drives the gap farther apart, leading to lawsuits and expensive rent that drives families away from the beach side town. Who would want to live in a town that treats minorities, and college students like a money fountain anyways?
Stated in the article Narragansett bans more than 3 college students from living in one home. A lawsuit is probably coming, “Some of these kids live here longer in a year than some of these residents who are complaining about the students,” Lembo said.
Visit https://riaclu.org/en/news/aclu-challenges-providence-housing-ordinance-restricting-students-rights and https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/14/metro/narragansett-bans-more-than-3-college-students-living-one-home-lawsuit-is-probably-coming/
To read more about this issue.
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Card Stacking Against the Narragansett Residents
By: Hannah Lorusso
The type of propaganda I used for this story was card stacking because I felt it was the best way to approach this type of situation. Card stacking in terms of propaganda is a propaganda technique where an organization may use media to favorably show one side or an issue or an argument, while downplaying the other side at the same time. Propaganda is a form of communication aimed to influence an audience, usually for political matters which could wrap in the housing ordinance in Narragansett. The issue at hand is that the Narragansett Town Council wants to limit the students of Narragansett to three students per house even if the house has 6, 7, or 8 bedrooms. It is leading to many students being displaced for housing, minorities having trouble paying high rent, and more homes being put up for rent leading to families being driven out by college rentals. I used many quotes to convey how the side of students is correct, one of the quotes that stood out to me is from the article Stated in the article Narragansett bans more than 3 college students from living in one home. A lawsuit is probably coming, “Some of these kids live here longer in a year than some of these residents who are complaining about the students,” Lembo said. I used this quote specifically to show how the students stay in the town longer, and not allowing the other side to convey their point of view on the topic. Therefore it gives little room to prove how some of the residents do stay here year round and it makes the students side look correct. I also drew on the importance of minorities being targeted by this ban on housing. Attorney Levy said regarding a similar housing ordinance in Providence, RI: “The City and State of Rhode Island already have laws in place that regulate overcrowding, loud parties and underage drinking. This ordinance goes too far by attempting to legislate who can live together in the same house. Ultimately, it will have its most significant impact on students from low-income and middle-income families who can’t afford to cover a larger share of the rent in a single-family home.” This quote pulls on minorities and how awful the town is for targeting an already struggling part of the community. This allows whoever reads my article to hear this point of view and not the other side that has many other points of views. As stated in the article Narragansett Town Council once again passes controversial three-student limit, “You’re just opening more demographics of homes available for rent by students, and making homes unaffordable for families and people trying to get into Narragansett,” Murray said. “The volume of homes for rent increased under the three student policy.” This quote shows how families cannot even rent in the town, which further makes the other side look even worse. Overall, the use of card stacking was evident throughout my entire writing and my goal is to have everyone side with the students to allow the ordinance to never be discussed ever again. Overall, I really enjoyed writing this article because I feel so strongly about this topic because I have been affected by it, and I have so many friends who have been affected as well. I pulled at so many different articles to gain insight into the topic and form a press release that helps to support the students. Money, displacement, and even landlords losing out on profit have all been issues that have affected this side. What I did not like about this topic was reading what the residents think about the students. They believe that we are all parties, and looking to disturb the peace, and the people who rent out these homes are genuinely sick of the University Of Rhode Island students being in a town that is suppose to be a vacation and retirement area. It was hard to see their point of view but at the same time The University Of Rhode Island has not added any more rooms and housing for us students so many people are to blame for the issue at hand, and the struggles many students have. I did not have a hard time finding criteria to use for my side of the argument for the students and my hope is to gain more awareness for the issue, and have people believe the other side is bad and targeting minorities.
Works Cited
Amaral, Brian. Narragansett Bans more than 3 College Students from living in one home. 14 September 2021. Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/09/14/metro/narragansett-bans-more-than-3-college-students-living-one-home-lawsuit-is-probably-coming/
Blessing, Ryan. Narragansett Town Council once again passes controversial three-student limit. 26 August 2021. Independent RI. https://www.independentri.com/news/article_e30e6a8c-05e7-11ec-aacb-5f2ef45e3a65.html
Mulvaney, Katie. Judge Strikes Down Narragansetts Three Student Rental Ordinance Again. 14 November 2022. The Providence Journal. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/courts/2022/11/14/judge-strikes-down-narragansett-rhode-island-three-student-rental-ordinance/69643090007/
