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Spelm otlight The Voice of African-American Womanhood Volume XXXV No. 3 October 30, 1991 Spelman "Land-Locked": No Room For Parking By Elisa Smith Editor-in-Chief How many times have you arrived at the Atlanta University Center parking lot at 9:40 a.m. - ample time to get to you 10 o’clock class - only to circle the lot for 20 minutes, still unable to find an empty parking space, thus late for class? Or, how many times have you refused to face those circumstances by parking on campus in an unassigned area, only to return finding a bright yellow and black parking violation securely glued to your car window? Well, if you think it’s bad now, get prepared; things will be worse next semester. On October 22, vice president and dean of Student Affairs Freddye Hill, vice president of Business Affairs Robert Flanigan and director of Public Safety Steve Bowser met with the Spelman Student Government Association to discuss the parking problems at Spelman. According to Dean Hill, the original site of the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center (adjacent to Giles Hall) was changed due to underground geographic problems such as plumbing. The new site is where the Helen T. Albro Guest House is presently located. Construction for the Cosby Center is scheduled to begin in the spring of 1992. This construction will decrease the number of faculty parking spaces in the Fine Arts parking lot. "In order to get a building permit to begin construction, we must show adequate parking," said Dean Hill. Thus, a student Parking Committee under the leadership of S.W.A.C. was formed to "help arrive at a set of concessions on everybody’s part that will be [the] best [longterm plan] for the institution," said Mr. Bowser. The loss of faculty parking spaces in the Fine Arts parking lot will probably mean a decrease in the number of on-campus student parking spaces. "On-campus students are on the bottom of the priority list," said Mr. Bowser, stating that many faculty and staff members believe on-campus student parking is a luxury. High on the list of parking priorities is the accommodation of faculty and staff members, commuter students and visitors (vendors, guest lecturers, speakers, prospective students, conference-goers, etc.). Students suggested that local residential and commercial land plots be bought and converted into parking lots. But Mr. Flanigan believes that Spelman’s increasing enrollment and increasing number of off-campus residents make it impossible to accommodate such an "ever-expanding demand on limited space." "It would be a waste of resources to buy flat land," he said, because expansion would be necessary in the future. ' The most obvious solution to the problem of inadequate parking: build a parking deck. The most obvious prevention to that solution: "Spelman is ‘land-locked’," said Mr. Flanigan. Since Spelman’s campus cannot house a parking deck, students suggested the use of the Sears property at the West End MalL Mr. Flanigan said that the use of the property was considered about six months ago, but the property is being sold as one package - Sears, the auto shop and the parking deck. Spelman would have no commercial use for the property and that is the target of the sale. Additionally, transportation (possibly via shuttle buses) would have to be provided to and from the Sears lot and, according to Mr. Flanigan, the Board of Trustees does not want a "north campus" and a "south campus." Students also recommended that the land between Howard Harreld Hall and the Stewart Living and Learning Center be paved for parking. But the Board of Trustees would not like to see this campus turn into a "concrete jungle," said Dean Hill. Mr. Flanigan noted that there are approximately 7,000 cars demanding use of the Atlanta University Center parking lot. Upon suggestion of building a parking deck in the A.U.C. lot, Mr. Flanigan said negotiations with the other A.U.C. institutions would have to take place, possible resulting in 1,000 - 1,000 jointly shared by the institutions. "There is just no way to accommodate all the cars that need to park there," he said. Ultimately, students, faculty and staff members will be forced to carpool. This might be more difficult for faculty and staff members, but students - especially those who live in apartment complexes that are off the Marta-line - would benefit from carpooling. An incentive for faculty and staff members to carpool would be the provision of premium parking spaces - outside of Manley Student Center, behind Giles and Morehouse-James halls and in from of Rockefeller Hall. Those who live on the Marta-line could drive their cars to the West End or Vine City Marta stations and take advantage of the A.U.C. shuttle buses. These problems demonstrate the necessity of a parking policy, which Spelman currently does not have. Parking spaces are distributed through a "lottery," but the lottery continues the be revised to eliminate PARKING FACTS Spaces Available By Location Henry Street Lot - Any Spelman Permit 113 Fine Arts Lot Faculty 67 Student 33 Upton Drive Faculty 11 West Drive Student 17 LLC I Student 31 Bessie Strong Faculty 54 Main Quad Faculty 59 Rear Abby Faculty 16 Rear Morehouse James Student 17 Visitor 17 Handicapped 7 Parking Availability By Category Total Faculty/Staff Availability 207 Total Student On-Campus Availability 95 Total Visitor Availability 17 Total Handicapped Availability 7 Pick-Up/Drop-Off 3 Total On-Campus Availability 329 Henry Street Lot Availability 113 TOTAL PARKING AVAILABILITY 442 Parking Permit Distribution Faiculty and Staff (with one vehicle) 307 Faculty and Staff (multiple vehicles) 252 Total 559 * Potential Daily Use Impact - 433 Student Off-Campus 362 Student On-Campus 95 Total 457 * Potential Daily Use Impact - 457 Total Potential Daily Impact 890 Source: Steve Bowser, director of Spelman College Public Safety off-campus students from receiving on- campus parking. Additionally, the Department of Public Safety has found that some people with off-campus permits allow others to use them. "A considerable amount of permits are taken from men," said Mr. Bowser. Students are encouraged to give their recommendations on increasing parking and on implementing a parking policy to Mr. Bowser by November 9.