No-growth policy a must for Monmouth University

Letter to Monmouth University President Paul Gaffney II:We read with interest your recent "Neighbor to Neighbor" newsletter to the citizens and residents of Long Branch.

It is with little consolation that we read that your construction projects are not meant to make the enrollment of Monmouth College bigger. While the building projects that you undertake will likely stand for over 50 years, your promises do not have any foundations to them, and will likely crumble long before then.

Current enrollment is already too high. Many streets in Long Branch are full of college students' cars parked night and day, with noise through the night, accompanied by honking, lewd shouting and screaming. Family neighborhoods have been turned into dormitories, while little children look out bedroom windows to watch X- and R-rated scenes that concerned parents would usually try to shield them from.

Noise coming from the college itself on celebration days has turned Long Branch and West Long Branch from quiet residential communities into loud Mardi Gras parties, disturbing to those residents who want a quiet neighborhood and quiet weekends to enjoy the homes that they've worked so hard and long to obtain and pay for.

Are there are any financial assurances that the college will not expand enrollment in the next 50 years? We'd like to see some solid legal commitment of a fine of $20,000 per year, or even $50,000 per year for every additional student that is added, over and above the current enrollment. Otherwise, your assurances are built on air.

You know as I do, that your institution was originally started in the same building as Long Branch High School, as Monmouth Junior College in 1933 and in 1956, it became Monmouth College. Since 1995, when it was changed to Monmouth University, enrollment has skyrocketed.

Students use neighborhood facilities, basketball courts, tennis courts, parks, police, fire and sanitation departments without appropriate compensation of real estate taxes that we residents undertake. You've already outgrown your current facilities. And you pay no taxes to our overburdened city! What assurances do you give to our children in 2050?

As parents and residents of the community around Monmouth College, it is time that the college made concrete assurances to us as to the long-term commitment to the community around it. We no longer trust the baseless assurances of your no-growth policy. Please put teeth into your promises, or the community itself may be forced to put teeth into its desire to stop your growth.

Morris Gindi

MU Watch

Long Branch