Editor’s note: This is just irresponsible and shortsighted. The University of Scranton brings jobs, money and prestige to Scranton; as well as a reason to go downtown. Scranton City Council needs to get their act together instead of retaliating against a good corporate citizen.
Miffed over the University of Scranton’s recent lawsuit against the city over its new parking tax, city council on Thursday threatened to oppose any zoning variance that the college may need from the city for various improvements, such as dorms or parking lots.
Asked by council President Janet Evans to address this issue, council solicitor Boyd Hughes said he was dismayed that the university sued the city over the parking tax, because over the years the city has facilitated the university’s growth. Rather, the college should be donating millions of dollars to the city, he said.
The university’s growth since the 1960s stemmed from what was known as the “University Plan” approved many years ago by the Scranton Redevelopment Authority, which involved the SRA condemning properties for university expansion, he said. But the college has since spread beyond its “institutional district” into residential areas, Mr. Hughes claimed.
The university has received variances from the city zoning board for improvements such as a dorm and parking areas in residential areas that “should have never been granted” by the zoning board.