Last night Student Council’s Safety and Wellness Committee announced the beginning of its “Lighten’ Up” campaign, which will work to provide more lighting in off-Grounds residential areas.
“Off-Grounds safety is something that has definitely become a major priority for us this year,” Council President Matt Schrimper said. “Over half the student body lives there, and for any student to feel unsafe in any part of the community is a real concern for us.”
Katie Peabody, chair of the Safety and Wellness Committee, said her committee began work on this issue because it received concerns from students about safety when walking in off-Grounds housing areas at night.
“I know a lot of people who have expressed concern about the lighting in the off-Grounds housing areas, and especially the areas that are farther away from Central Grounds,” Peabody said.
To determine which areas need increased lighting, Council plans to rely on students reporting their lighting concerns through an application process.
If students wish to have lighting installed in their off-Grounds housing areas, they should submit an application online or fill out a paper application at the Council office, Peabody said. The application asks students to fill out information that includes the apartment address, the apartment management and the reason the student feels as though the lighting request is necessary.
“Students who are walking in off-Grounds areas and recognize that they think that the lighting is not sufficient — they should apply for this,” Peabody said.
Once students submit the application to Council, the Safety and Wellness Committee will contact a crime prevention officer, who will examine the property in question by walking through the area at different times during the night and evaluate the lighting, Peabody said.
Providing that Council receives a fair number of applications, the crime prevention officer will report back to Council within two weeks. Council will then contact the property owner and discuss light installation options, Schrimper said.
“The crime prevention officers will report directly back to us,” he said. “We want the primary flow of information to be going through us, and then we’ll reach back out the landlords. The essential idea is that once [the] crime prevention officer gets back in touch with us, we can ask landlords to provide lighting themselves or we can provide it for students.”
Third-year Engineering student Elizabeth Morris said she is skeptical that students will know enough about the program to actually take advantage of it. She noted that if Council wants the application process to be successful, it will have to seriously publicize that this is an option for students.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Morris said. “I live on Virginia Avenue and that is a sketchy, less well lit place, but [Council will] have to force students to [fill out the applications] somehow. If you just have a poster somewhere, students probably won’t respond.”
Charlottesville Apartments, LLC President John Crafaik said he supports initiatives that promote students’ safety, and noted that approaching lighting concerns through Student Council — rather than directly between resident and landlord — may more effectively address this issue.
“I think that sometimes the tenants would feel funny about asking landlords these things,” Crafaik said, noting that single student requests may not make as much of an impact as a collective effort, especially for lighting broader areas. Crafaik noted, though, that the city is responsible for most street lighting, and that altering single residences’ lighting may not be as effective as, for instance, increasing the wattage of street lights.
Schrimper said Council wanted to address the off-Grounds lighting issue through landlords initially because the city maintains a standard of lighting for residential areas; however, if lighting efforts between Council and landlords do not fulfill student expectations, Schrimper said, Council will communicate its concerns to the city.
Colin Hood, vice-chair of the Safety and Wellness Committee, said Council has set aside some funding for this project; however, it expects landlords to be willing to pay for the lighting in the majority of the cases.
“We’ve heard from some landlords, and they have said that they are willing to pay for the lights if this is brought up to their attention,” Hood said. “They’re willing to pay and install the lights; however, Student Council does have funds reserved to buy lights if necessary. If, for example, the landlord is not willing to pay for the light but is willing to install the light, Student Council will pay for the light.”
Hood also noted that Council does not have the means to fund the installation of every light.
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