Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

For students, a lesson learned the messy way

— PORTLAND — Growing up comes with a lot of awful bumps.

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Jack Milton/ Staff Photographer Bayside Village, a new student apartment complex on Marginal Way in Portland, has had a high number of police calls since it opened. The city is now working with management to keep the complex from being designated as a ''disorderly house.''

Jack Milton

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That's something the people at Bayside Village should have known.

But just like a college student who's still wet behind the ears, even if you know something is going to happen -- that first bewildering trip to the grocery store, or the first time a day of classes follows a long night of partying -- you can't always prepare for it.

Bayside Village opened last fall on Marginal Way in Portland as a unique alternative to traditional dormitories for students from schools such as the University of Southern Maine and Southern Maine Community College, among others.

Promising students modern accommodations and -- more importantly -- freedom, the village's prospects looked good. Then the actual tenants moved in. And that's when the trouble started.

In a roughly two-month period from September to November, the apartment complex racked up nearly 60 calls for service to Portland police. Many of the complaints were for rowdy behavior, including loud parties and drinking by minors.

But things have changed for the better, and what looked like an unstable situation just a few months ago has settled into a new normal, say residents, management and police. The police calls dropped to almost nil last month.

Which is probably for the best, because if things hadn't changed, the city could have imposed heavy fines or even condemned the building.

And as far as learning life lessons goes, that would have been pretty harsh.

Just about any housing would feel like the Four Seasons compared with the crumbling haunt that was Portland Hall, the now-closed dorm that offered the only housing in Portland for USM and SMCC students.

If you had to pick a word to describe the rooms at Bayside compared with on-campus accommodations, it would be ''cushy'' -- four-bedroom suites, each with a living room and kitchen, including furnishings.

Throw in an all-inclusive package with cable, utilities and Wi-Fi, and it beats most places in Portland that are available to people on a limited budget.

Chandler Hall, 26, a student at SMCC, said he pays less than $600 a month to live there, which gets him his own bedroom and access to the suite with three other students.

''For living in a town like Portland, that's a great deal,'' he said.

''The public views this as a dorm, but it isn't,'' said Tara Bryant, property manager at Bayside Village.

It's a tricky combination to manage: 100 units, about 300 residents, students ranging in age from 18 to 35, all under one roof.

Bayside Village does have a security staff and community assistants, but students who live there are treated like tenants living in any apartment building.

And that means being responsible for their actions.

The rising number of police calls set off a chain reaction of consequences.

The building's management reduced the number of visitors allowed in any room from 16 to eight, required all guests to sign in and instituted several other rules. New staff members were hired, and at least four people were evicted in a crackdown that threatened to further upset tenants.

Nicole Fox, a resident who is a 20-year-old student at SMCC, described the whole situation as ''horrifying.'' She said the bad actions of a few people shouldn't affect how all residents of a building live.

The limit on guests was later relaxed after complaints from residents, and Bryant said tenants had to decide as a community the future of the building.

''This is where they live,'' she said. ''I told them if they wanted to live in substandard conditions they can, and the building will (suffer).''

Portland's disorderly-house ordinance, which allows the city to fine building owners or condemn buildings, also helped turned things around at Bayside Village.

By February, there were only two calls for service, said Portland police Capt. Ted Ross.

''We're certainly encouraged by what we see, and we hope to see it continue,'' Ross said.

Last week the building's management threw a party for the tenants, including free food from Famous Dave's BBQ and that staple of college dining, Denny's.

Molly Maguire, a freshman at USM, said that as bad as the situation was, it did serve as a learning experience.

The biggest draw for living at Bayside Village is the independence it allows students.

That wasn't threatened by parents or school administrators, but by neighbors and police, she said.

''It's so much better now. We get plenty of freedom but still have rules,'' said Maguire, 19.

She said this is the time when young people are supposed to be discovering what it means to be on their own and experience things for the first time.

If you put that in perspective, maybe it was best to avoid at least one dubious achievement: first eviction.

Staff Writer Justin Ellis can be contacted at 791-6380. See his blog at:

www.pressherald.com