A parking proposal by Dr. David Collins, vice president of Finance and Administration, and Mr. Calvin Cooper, director of the Parking Office, was presented at this semester’s final SGA meeting on Tuesday.
ETSU has faced parking problems for the past 27 years, said Collins. The school is working to fix this problem although Collins expects that it will always be an issue.
The creation of a Parking and Transportation Department was part of the 2006 proposal.
In October of this year, enforcement personnel were increased, the BucShot route was improved and more vehicles were employed for the school.
The development of 320 parking spaces at Village Lane has been met with only 76 becoming available.
The construction of a parking garage near Maple Street has been delayed indefinitely due to a lack of capital and budget woes over the economy.
The central problem is that there are only 1,149 faculty and staff parking spaces for the 2,300 staff members. Out of the 11,059 commuting students at ETSU, there are 3,539 spaces.
A new plan to free up 300 spaces in Lot 22A was addressed by Collins’ re-designation and re-allocation outlook.
Residents can expect a new decal in 2009 that would indicate their residency status, requiring them to park in apartment and dormitory spaces from 5 a.m.-3 p.m., thereby increasing commuter parking. The Parking, Traffic, & Security Standing Committee along with Cooper counted 527 Buc Ridge, Buc Village and Pirate Cove residents and found 463 spaces were available.
It is for this reason that long-term renovations have been set into place along with current shortages and organizing restricted parking to balance these ratios.
SGA Senator Spencer Cooper voiced his concern for green space to be preserved. He said that 300 extra spots do not seem to address the issue and that current construction also seemed to be a contributing factor to limited parking.
“It’s more of a management issue than anything. It is a balancing act,” said Collins. “The true answer is cost. Fees go up, so the answer is a parking garage in the future.”
Other issues addressed by the proposal include traffic flow, unnecessary parking spaces, and motorcycle and scooter parking. Cooper presented his plan for designating motorcycle and scooter lots currently proposed to the Parking, Traffic, & Security Standing Committee. These plans include allocating space in Lots 37A, 35, 32, 26, 19, areas near Ball Hall where 45 spaces could be added, and Stone Hall, where green space would have to be paved over.
Cooper said that the long-term goal of motorcycle and scooter parking is to create more designated parking while preserving areas where cars and trucks may park.
The meeting concluded with a resolution to address the side walk legislation SSR-011-08, which proposed the construction of a sidewalk from Buc Ridge to Buc Village that would allow shorter distance to campus and create a safe environment for students next semester.
A formal statement by the SGA will be issued in January highlighting ideas and suggestions for the proposal.

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