By ASIA EWART
Contributing Writer
The issue of parking at The College Saint Rose is one that has been under fire as of late. There has been talk of the loss of an old parking lot and an increase in the resident parking fee. Students and faculty alike have been feeling the effects of these changes, and allowed their voices to be heard on the issue.
“I get here at 6 a.m. specifically so I can park,” said Donna Reittenger, a professor in the Psychology department. “Once a year, I come in late, to remind myself why I get here early.”
Faculty currently pays fifty dollars for parking, and adjuncts pay forty dollars. “You’re only paying for a shot at parking. There’s no guarantee you’ll get one,” said Rettinger. This feeling of long sufferance is shared by some commuter students. But for both, the news of a recent lot closing brought sighs and grunts of frustration.
“That’s awful. I’ll have to get here earlier than I already do, which is not right,” said Fiona Matthews, a junior commuter student. “I get here at 8 a.m. and have to park in LaSalle. After 8:30 a.m., there are no spots. It’s already hard to find spots here.” “We’re already pressed for parking,” said Rettinger “I don’t agree with it.”
Steven Stella, the Head of Security here at the college, explained the parking losses and gain this semester.
“The old lot behind 920 Madison Avenue is the only one that was closed. This is the location of the new Centennial Hall,” said Steven Stella, the Head of Security at The College of Saint Rose.
“The college commissioned Walker Parking Consultants to study the college’s parking system. They determined that a tiered parking permit system would be more fiscally sound and fair than a flat rate for every permit. Walker’s report specifically mentions the inequity of the resident student permit price versus all others. The recent resident student parking permit price increase was the result of careful examination of both parking utilization and the rising costs of maintaining, plowing, patrolling and providing closed circuit TV camera coverage of the parking lots. Resident parking permit holders utilize the lots at a rate that is 3 times the amount of time that other permit holders do,” said Stella.
“Do they know that visitors park here too?” asked Amy Hayter, a sophomore resident student, quoted in regards to Lima lot, when asked about the spaces which were removed for the building of Centennial Hall.
According to Stella, resident students are now paying $100 for a parking permit. “It’s going to be nuts in Lima Lot with one less place to park,” said Hayter.
