Editorial: Regents: Kill UA's Casa Feliz plan

Their complaints to UA officials have apparently fallen on deaf ears.

A petition, which was being circulated throughout the building Saturday morning, will probably never have enough signatures.

Unfortunately, University of Arizona administrators aren't listening to the cry from area residents - don't turn Casa Feliz apartments, 1201 E. Drachman St., into a UA dorm.

The residents are sympathetic to the university's plight. With a massive influx of dorm dwellers and no rooms to house them, Residence Life officials were charged with the task of finding space for on-campus students.

But sympathy only stretches so far, and the UA has certainly overstepped its bounds.

Last semester, Residence Life Director James Van Arsdel thought he had a plan. Some returning dorm dwellers, he said, would not be re-admitted.

But an outcry from parents and whining from Residence Hall Association members caught Van Arsdel like a deer in the headlights. Even UA President Peter Likins shot him down, forcing Van Arsdel to scrap the plan and come up with a better idea - quickly.

Casa Feliz, however, is a foolhardy purchase, wrought with pitfalls and surrounded with bitter Tucson residents.

And their bitterness is understandable.

Some renters have lived in Casa Feliz for years. They enjoy the low-income housing privileges and made that building their home.

Now, the UA decides to open its massive checkbook, buy the property and force the residents -Êsome too elderly to handle a major move - out on the street.

Casa Feliz's neighbors can expect property values to plummet. Suddenly, a quiet apartment building turns into a party pad for wild students who start their nights at 2 a.m.

And then there's the boundary issue.

Casa Feliz sits at Drachman and North Mountain Avenue - crossing the university's so-called borders.

While the University of Arizona is the cornerstone of Tucson, there's a respect issue that lingers. That land belongs to the community as a whole, including the UA and the renters. It was the university's responsibility to hold forums, assign an administrator to compile residents' reactions and have some heart.

But a compromise was never in the cards and their ears were never open.

Now, the residents are on their last leg. One shot remains.

The Arizona Board of Regents on Friday will decide if the university can purchase Casa Feliz apartments.

Regents President Judy Gignac said she does not support the plan, calling it "a big mistake" and "terribly disruptive."

Area residents would be wise to petition the other regents to join Gignac and send the UA back to the drawing board.

Tell the university that crossing borders can be done over time, with support and good judgment.

Tell Residence Life that lowering homeowners' property values is theft.

Tell the regents that expelling supportive community members from their homes without adequate warning is horribly inconsiderate and asinine.