Clarion 1977-11-11 Vol 53 No 09

              Northwestern's proposed auditorium site lies beyond these gates.
Legal suit delays
Bethel construction
NOV 11 1977
Bruce Olsen editor Greg Kuntz sports editor The Clarion is published weekly
Holly Schmiess news editor Mark Hclmes photo editor by the students of Bethel College.
Nancy Naumenko production editor Juan Ramos cartoonist Letters to the editor should be sent
Suzi Wells copy editor Arlan Swanson business manager to p.o. 91 by the Sunday before publication
THE CLARION Bethel College Volume 53, Number 9 November 11, 1977
—approving community
Bethel emulates
positive impression
by Carol Madison and
Denise Hansen
Bethel is not self-sufficient.
Bethel depends on and comes in
contact with businesses and
neighbors in the surrounding
community. Through scattered
contacts, the community learns of
Bethel students and Bethel as an
institution.
A sampling of ten old campus
and ten Fountain Terrace neigh-bors
and businesses in the Har
Mar area were surveyed , to find
out what they thought of Bethel
College.
Businesses view the relation-ship
with student customers as
favorable. "We can tell when the
students are back," commented
one employer, "because we sell
out of peanut butter and bread."
A Bethel student's credit is
considered to be no-risk by most
businesses. Every store surveyed
expressed the opinion that Bethel
checks were always welcomed.
An assistant manager, new to the
area, said, "One of the first
things I learned when I came here
was never to question a Bethel
check."
Other typical comments in-cluded
the fact that none had ever
received a bad check or that credit
was no problem with Bethel
students.
These businesses also deal with
students as employees. Though
no employer would hire a person
solely because he was a Bethel
student, usually this information
positively reinforced his decision.
Students were described by
employers to be "above average
employees," "good family peo-ple"
and "good workers."
Employers viewed the institu-tion
in various ways such as, "a
Christian college, - "a Bible col-lege"
or "Just a college down the
road somewhere."
Only one particular business, a
jewelry store, knew nothing of
Bethel College.
The businesses are not the only
part of the community with which
Bethel comes in contact. The
neighbors have also gained im-pressions
of students and of the
institution.
Old campus residents harbor
differing opinions about Bethel.
Because of the present situation
of the sale of old campus, feelings
about the administration were not
generally favorable.
However, this attitude did not
_affect their opinions of the stu-dents.
Most neighbors were satis-fied
with their relationship to the
students.
They said that students ap-peared
to be well-dressed, well-mannered,
friendly and consi-derate
to neighbors. One resident
stated, "In 42 years I've never
had a complaint about the stu-dents."
Some old campus neighbors
expressed dissatisfaction. Corn-plaints
included the loud noise
level and inconsiderate parking.
An extreme view was, "I have
more contact than I care for (with
Bethel students), but it's better
than what they're trying to do
now (with the sale of old cam-pus)."
One man complained that the
dust from the bus dirties his
window sills.
Neighbors of Fountain Terrace
generally expressed a positive
impression of Bethel students.
The sample of neighbors sur-veyed
preferred Bethel students
to past apartment dwellers. Most
of the neighbors were impressed
by the offers of students on
Community Service Day.
General comments included,
"there is less noise," "it's 99
percent better than before,"
"students stay out of our yards,"
"students are friendly" and "a
great asset to the neighbors."
Most Fountain Terrace neigh-bors
knew more of Bethel stu-dents
than of the institution.
Statements about the institution
included saying, it's "a college,"
"a seminary," "a Christian col-lege
like St. Catherines, Mac. or
Hemline," and "a religious
school."
As one neighbor put it, "A
college can make a fantastic
impression on a community."
by Paul A. Olsen
Due to circumstances beyond
its control, the previously sched-uled
Bethel construction program
will not appear at this time.
The proposed construcion of
two to five new dorms and an
annex is postponed indefinitely
due to litigation between North-western
College and the city of
Arden Hills.
There is hope that the project
may yet begin as early as the first
of the year. And it may be
finished in time for fall '78
classes.
In a case scheduled for court
appearance in early December,
Northwestern is suing the city of
Arden Hills. This legal action
stem from Arden Hill's denial of a
building permit for an auditorium
at Northwestern.
Because the Arden Hills city
council denied the Northwestern
building permit, they were corn-pelled
to deny Bethel's request as
well.
Dave Lissner, Bethel's director
of campus development, says that
the outcome of the suit will be
favorable toward both Northwes-tern
and Bethel.
Once the suit is decided, it is
likely that Bethel will get its
building permit and then begin
construction.
Presently, there is little anyone
can do about the situation. It all
came about last spring when
Northwestern applied to build an
1850-seat auditorium.
The neighboring residents im-mediately
opposed the project.
They did not like the probable
crowds and increase in noise.
The community group found
legal ambiguities in the local
zoning ordinances.
Both Bethel and Northwestern
are located in residentially zoned
(R-1) areas.
According to law, special build-ing
permits for the type of
construction Bethel and North-western
have in mind can be
obtained for schools, This does
not specifically include or prohibit
colleges.
In the zoning ordinances for
light business, however, colleges
are specifically mentioned.There-fore
the citizens argued, North-western
is not a school but a light
business. So they cannot obtain a
school's special permit.
Northwestern argues that col-leges
have historically been con-sidered
as schools. Because of
precedence, Northwestern says it
has rights to a special permit.
The Arden Hilt city council was
faced with a tough decision. But
because it is standard procedure
for the losing party to file suit,
they knew the decision would be
out of their hands once they
ruled. Consequently they decided
in favor of their constituents.
Northwestern did file suit, and
it is this case that comes before a
judge early in December. There
are options open to Bethel in
case Northwestern loses. But
because the judge is aware of the
situation of both Bethel and
Northwestern, and because it
would be highly unprecedented
for Northwestern to lose its case,
an expedient and favorable de-cision
is likely.
As soon as the Northwestern
case is settled, Bethel can obtain
its permit and issue bids for
construction.
It is hoped that the decision will
be reached as soon as possible
because construction costs rise in
the winter. According to Lissner,
if the decision is reached with
expediency—as it should be—
there should be time to complete
the dorm construction in time for
fall '78.
But for now, it is simply a
waiting game. Stay tuned.