The Columbia City Council voted in favor of rezoning the Regency mobile home park Nov. 21. The land will be used for new student housing, built by Aspen Heights.

Student governments, including Missouri Students Association, Legion of Black Collegians, Residence Halls Association and Four Front, all passed a resolution stating they were against the rezoning at the joint Senate meeting Nov. 16.

MSA Campus and Communities Relations Committee Chairwoman Grace Haun authored the resolution. She attended the City Council meeting and presented the student body opinion on the issue.

“I wanted City Council to know that students didn’t support the rezoning issue,” she said.

Although the council appreciated the MU student involvement, Haun said they ultimately did not take her presentation seriously.

Several Columbia residents spoke on the rezoning issue. Because of Thanksgiving break, most undergraduates and graduates could not attend.

“The overwhelming majority were against it,” Haun said.

At the meeting, Aspen Heights attorney Robert Hollis said he thought the issues were being misrepresented.

“One of the things that I realized is that the issues, the actual issues are so often, at least tonight, not understood and not articulated,” he said.

Hollis said the main issues are land use and the residents of the park.

Despite several Regency residents speaking out against the new housing, Hollis maintained that most residents supported the rezoning.

“We have virtually all of the support of all of the occupied spaces in the park,” he said, citing signatures Aspen Heights received from residents, after offering $500 incentives.

Despite the general opinion of those in attendance, the council passed the rezoning bill with a vote of 5-2.

“To be honest I wasn’t quite surprised at the decision because it seemed to me to be a foregone conclusion anyway,” MSA President Eric Woods said. “But I was proud of the students who took on the issue and made our voices heard, and especially showed up at the meeting.”

The residents were originally told they would have to leave by Feb. 29, but the date was pushed back after a community meeting with Aspen Heights.

Regency residents will now have until April 30 to move out. That date is extended to May 31 for residents with children in school, according to the bill.

Without rezoning, residents of the park would have no moving assistance.

With rezoning, residents of single-wide mobile homes will receive $1,800 and those with double-wides will receive $3,000. Aspen Heights will also provide the $500 incentive to residents who signed a form indicating they will accept the severance pay.

“The money they’re giving them isn’t a lot, and a lot of the people there are disabled or elderly, and a lot of the trailers can’t be moved,” Haun said.

Woods said he is wary of the new development.

“Having personally lived in one similar, I can say that these places and these out-of-state developers are really good at selling students kind of a bill of goods but not always delivering on those promises,” he said.

Although Woods said he isn’t familiar with Aspen Heights particularly, he has no reason to believe it will operate any differently than other luxury complexes.

“People were trying to sell it like it was something that was good for students, (but) I’m not so sure, to be honest,” he said.