The first thing the school principal noticed was the large number of new students coming from a tiny, isolated neighborhood that didn't exist two years ago.

Then it was the repeated fights — which would begin on the bus ride home, fester in the neighborhood, then come back to school the next day, said Glendale Elementary School Principal Mickey Buhl.

And there were other troubling signs — youngsters shaving their eyebrows and cutting their hair in ways that Buhl said indicated flirtation with the idea of gangs. Glendale staff who went to the Owl Creek neighborhood, off Voges Road on the southeast side near McFarland, saw an unfinished development sandwiched between two industrial parks and far from stores, social services and bus lines.

Madison police also noticed problems. From March 1 to June 30 of this year, police responded to 81 calls for service, ranging from theft to battery, in the tiny development, said Lt. Carl Strasburg.

"For a four-to-six-block area, that's extremely high," Strasburg said. "That's a big red flag for us."

Police also found that 10 neighborhood residents had long criminal histories or active arrest warrants, Strasburg said. "That was another red flag for us."

Since then, attention from city agencies has eased problems — police calls were down in July and August compared to last year — but police are asking for a halt to further construction until there is more improvement, including basic services such as a bus line, park and social services.

On Monday, the city Plan Commission will consider a permit to allow Grosso Investment Properties of Cottage Grove — which owns and rents seven, four-bedroom duplexes on the two blocks where concerns have been centered — to build a four-unit townhouse.

"We're on the road for improvements, but it's going to take time," Strasburg said. "Why should we add on to a potential problem?"

To Buhl, the concentration of students from families struggling with poverty, joblessness or drug and alcohol problems is the same as in other challenged neighborhoods where Glendale students live. The difference, he said, is how isolated this place is.

Assistant city attorney Jennifer Zilavy said that when she looked at the neighborhood this summer, "it looked rather 'slummy,' for lack of a better word."

"It looked like something that had been started and not finished and then had been abandoned," said Zilavy, whose office is backing Strasburg's recommendation.

In August, police, city and school district officials met with representatives from Dane County Human Services, the city-county Health Department, the United Way and the Bridge Lake Point Waunona Neighborhood Center in an intervention effort that mayoral aide Joel Plant called "unprecedented."

Police and city officials also spoke with developers Doug and Mark Nelson and other property owners renting homes in Owl Creek about the need for better tenant screening and property management, and the city's chronic nuisance ordinance.

Doug Nelson told the State Journal that he questions police incident numbers for the neighborhood, and said there have been minor incidents that were quickly addressed.

"There's been no real big crime out there," Nelson said.

The subdivision, now about one-third completed, was initially planned as owner-occupied homes, he said. In 2005, Nelson said, he had purchase offers on all 89 lots, but most builders walked away when the housing market declined. Homes that were built and didn't sell are now being rented, he said.

"We have done everything out there that is in our developer's agreement," Nelson said. "I don't know what else they want."

Nelson said eight acres were donated to the city for a park "the city says they don't have money for."

And Metro Transit doesn't have money to extend bus service to the neighborhood, said spokesman Mick Rusch.

Kathy Grosso acknowledged having problems at the duplexes she owns with her husband, Ronald. She said those issues were resolved through eviction and non-renewal of leases.

Grosso and Nelson both said they screen tenants and check on their properties.

She said the proposed four-unit townhouse was intended to help complete the neighborhood.

Properties owned by others have not been kept up to par, Grosso said, citing overgrown yards and a fire pit surrounded by car seats.

Last month, the City Council sent $10,000 to the Bridge Lake Point Waunona Neighborhood Center to include Owl Creek children in its after-school program. But because of transportation limitations, the center can only serve about 14 of the 35 Glendale students, Buhl said. The United Way of Dane County gave $5,000 for a teen program.

A block party is being planned for Oct. 18 to connect families with available social services.

Ron Chance, community program manager for Dane County Human Service's Joining Forces for Families program located in the city's most challenged neighborhoods — including Allied Drive, Badger Road, Darbo Drive and Russett Road — said there is no money for a new office in Owl Creek.

Nor do conditions there rise to the level of neighborhoods where Joining Forces for Families is now located, Chance said, adding, "In other places, people are getting shot."

"I see a good viable neighborhood that is being challenged," said Ald. Judy Compton. "We hopefully are going to put out this small fire before it becomes a bonfire," she said.