The 250 new parking spaces in Lot 4 are causing a heated controversy between members of the faculty and students. The spaces have been designated “first come, first served,” which leaves both students and faculty feeling cheated.

Members of the Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) discussed the issue at a meeting on Thursday. There are no other lots on campus designated for both faculty and students, though all faculty permits are valid in any student lot. The committee is monitoring the outcome of this new designation for parking.

“The purpose of this experiment is to change or add a little to the status quo, to see how it benefits everyone,” said Ronald Grant, director of Support Services. “There was a lot of debate over how to allocate the spots,” said Grant.

Val Smith, Chair of TAC, said the lot is essentially for students, since most faculty members choose to park only in lots designated for faculty/staff.

“We’ve essentially added more student parking, rather than a third option. It’s not a mix,” Smith said.

“Many students feel it should be a student lot only,” said Joe Booth, student member of TAC. “There are faculty and staff lots that aren’t even being filled up. Why are we giving them more spots?”

According to Smith, the growth rate is proportionate between faculty/staff and students. He feels the allocation of new spaces should reflect that growth rate.

According to John Deglow, community representative for TAC, many faculty and staff feel it is unforgivable that they took away faculty spaces during the construction phase of the new lot.

“Faculty have been quite concerned about this little experiment,” said Grant.

Rumors are suggesting that a change could be made to designate all parking available to both faculty and students.

“There is no truth to rumors that if it is successful, we would go to this throughout the campus. There is a reason for this separation. We will never abandon this way,” said Grant. “The issue will be how well this works. A large percentage of students get here before faculty and staff. Let’s not cut its throat before we see how it works.”

The deliberated parking spaces in Lot 4 are not permanent. The lot is the future site for construction of a new parking structure.

The second parking structure will begin construction during Summer 2001. Upon completion scheduled for Fall 2002, the new parking structure will provide 1,000 new parking spaces, with a loss of 350 due to construction. Further debate is taking place over how to designate the parking spaces in the new structure.

The TAC is discussing a possible re-allocation of all spaces in the first parking structure for students and making the second structure available to faculty/staff exclusively.

“You’re basically eliminating a problem by changing location,” said Smith.

The next TAC meeting is tentatively scheduled for sometime during February 2001.

Read agendas and meeting minutes for TAC online at http://www.csus.edu/utaps/tac/tac.htm.