Grand Valley board to consider changes in parking policies

Grand Valley State University administrators believe they have found a long-term solution to parking problems on its Allendale and downtown Grand Rapids campuses.

Timothy Schad, vice-president for Finance and Administration, will present a proposal to the Board of Trustees on December 3 that outlines the need for additional surface parking lots in Allendale and a parking ramp on Grand Valley's Pew Grand Rapids Campus. The need for additional parking is caused by an increase in enrollment and a decrease in the number of spaces the university can lease from owners of non-university lots.

'We are recommending that the Board approve a parking fee for students,' explained Schad. 'It will be an opt-in program, so the only students who will pay the fee are those who choose to bring cars to campus. We know from our research that many students live on campus and use the free transportation the university will continue to make available.'

Schad and Lisa Haynes, director of operations for Pew and regional campuses, outlined the significant parking challenges and the possible solutions at five informational forums held this fall semester on both campuses. They got plenty of feedback from students, but their focus on getting a long-term solution remains steady.

'We've run out of options and must plan for our own future,' said Haynes. 'We've maximized parking and shuttle transportation to its capacity. There are no more rabbits to pull out of the hat.' Haynes knows better than most. In addition to her university duties, she serves on the automobile parking commission for the City of Grand Rapids.

Grand Valley was leasing 412 spaces from the city of Grand Rapids at the start of school this past fall. In October, 160 of those spaces were removed because of the construction of the new YMCA on the site of one of the Lake Michigan Drive 'Dash' lots.

'With the demand of the new DeVos Place Convention Center and the lack of spaces downtown, we've concluded that we must solve our problem ourselves because temporary leased spaces can't solve a permanent problem,' said Haynes.

The new Grand Valley ramp would create 950 spaces on an existing lot on Seward, between Lake Michigan Drive and Bridge. Students taking classes at Grand Valley's Center for Health Sciences would park in the ramp and continue to take a shuttle to the Center, located at Michigan and Lafayette streets NE. The CHS shuttle has been a success and earned the university an award of appreciation from the area's neighborhood association.

'We believe we are taking a responsible lead in solving our own problems,' said Schad. 'A fee is necessary because the State of Michigan does not appropriate funds for the acquisition, construction or maintenance of parking lots.

'At the moment, tuition is the only source of revenue to run our parking system, which means that students without cars are subsidizing students with cars. That's unfair, and in any event we need to use tuition revenue to hire faculty and teach classes. All in all, the fairest thing to do is to ask those who park to pay.'

If approved by the Board, plans are to break ground on the $20 million, four-story parking ramp in December, 2003 in order for it to be ready for use by fall 2004.

Eleven of Michigan's 15 public university campuses charge students for parking and related transportation with fees and usage charges that range from $45 to $300 per semester. Schad's proposal calls for full-time students who wish a permit to pay $125 per semester while part-time students would pay $65 per semester. In order to phase in the new fee, Schad said he will ask the Board to discount the rates to $95 and $50, respectively, for the fall and winter semesters of the 2004-05 academic year.