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Thursday, 22 February 2007 |
Parking deck fee inadequate for faculty
The College Street Parking Deck officially opened Feb. 7, giving faculty the ability to purchase a spot and allowing students and visitors to park in any of the 50 short-term parking spots.
However, as of Feb. 15, only 152 of the 250 spots made available to faculty have been purchased. To purchase a spot in the new parking deck, faculty must pay $360.
The Appalachian believes the $360 fee is overpriced.
One reason that the fee is too costly is the parking deck was free to
the university. The deck, costing $4.5 million, was paid for entirely
by a 2000 referendum. Relieving the university from paying for the deck.
Another inequality facing deck parking spots is the steep cost when
compared to parking in land-surface lots. To park in Stadium Lot, Raley
Lot or Hill Street Lot is a fee of only $204.
A $156 increase to buy a spot in the deck is inexcusable.
This price is also amplified when considering Boone’s through-the-roof property costs.
Many faculty members are forced to live outside of town limits, thus forcing them to drive to class every day.
Many professors chose not to buy spots because they did not feel the need to leave their current location.
Faculty Senate Chair Martha A. Marking said she did not purchase a spot because she did not have to leave campus during the day.
She said she talked to members of her department as to why they
purchased spots and their reasons were that they did not want to have
to worry about a spot if they left during the day.
While this is a reason Parking and Traffic Director Barry D. Sauls said
the deck was built, it still does not answer the question of price.
The reasonable thing for the university would be to heavily discount these prices for faculty members.
Sauls said as of now, the spots will not be sold to students, but the
issue would be reevaluated after the deck has been online for a couple
of months.
If the spots become open to students, The Appalachian requests that prices are not hiked up.
To park in the Rivers Street Parking Deck, students must pay $504. A
plan to lower it $480 was voted on but shot down. Students already pay
a lot to park on campus.
The university needs to be fair to whoever parks in the deck since,
essentially, the deck was a gift to the university from the beginning.
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