Neighbors Oppose Chapman College Plan : Growth: Residents vow to fight what could be a 50% increase in enrollment.

Chapman College and residents in the surrounding neighborhood in Orange are at odds over the new college president’s plans to increase enrollment 50% over the next five years and to rename the private college Chapman University.

“We will fight it; we will not put up with any more expansion,” said Carole Walters, leader of the Orange Concerned Citizens Group, an organization of about 25 neighbors who have opposed expansion of the college. “What we want from Chapman College is communication, and we haven’t gotten that yet.”

Walters’ group and another local residents’ group, the Old Towne Preservation Assn., have been working together to prevent the 128-year-old private college from encroaching on their historically rich neighborhood of Victorian and early-California-style homes.

Some neighbors are concerned about the growth that would result from changing a college to a university. But most seem worried about the immediate problems, such as more traffic and noise, that increasing enrollment from 2,200 to 3,500 students.

“I would be most concerned about when those students would be here,” said Joe Suste, a preservation association member who owns a home built in 1909 that is near the college. “If we’re going to have a lot of night and weekend traffic, that would be a big problem.”

Suste’s concerns stem from the college’s plan to attract more students to attend courses during evenings and weekends. But college President Allen E. Koenig said he and the trustees want to increase the number of full-time students on the campus, where a great many who attend are part time.

“The 3,500 figure is simply a goal,” said Koenig, who took over as the college’s 11th president in October. “We’re going to live up to our agreement with the city of Orange.”

Earlier this year, the City Council approved a long-range development plan to increase the college’s capacity to 2,500 students at any one time. That decision, in effect, permits enrollment to increase to 3,500, provided that not all the students are on campus at once.

Supporters of the college’s expansion efforts console local residents with the idea that a bigger and better university nearby will increase their property values.

“I understand and respect their positions,” Paul Frizler, chair of both the Faculty Senate and the English department, said of the residents. “But I don’t think they are seeing this whole thing very clearly. I really think (the expansion) helps, rather than hinders, the neighborhood.”

Homeowners are not convinced.

“They’re going to have to go to battle for this,” said Dale Rahn, a former president of the preservation association. “I would hope they would be sensitive to the community, but it’ll all be worked out in the political process.”