The student semester parking permit fee will increase to $125 in fall 2008, according to Scott Charmack, associate vice president of Physical Planning and Facilities Management.
But the parking fee is not the only thing going up. Construction of a new, multi-level parking structure – dubbed Parking Structure Three – is expected to begin in late January 2008, Charmack said.
The parking structure, the third of its kind on campus, is estimated for completion in 14 to 15 months, around March or April 2009, according to Charmack. It will be located in what is now Lot 11A, north of Parking Structure Two.
The bid process for the new structure will open early this month, Charmack said, after which a bid proposal will be reviewed by the CSU Board of Trustees, most likely in November.
Charmack said the university is trying to ease the cost burden on students by not imposing the parking fee increase until either after construction has already begun or is near its completion. That means the $125 permit fee for fall 2008 will take effect about mid way between the beginning and end of construction on Parking Structure Three.
Still, students have expressed their doubts.
“That’s a lot of money, especially if you still have to fight to find a parking space,” said Dana Osborne, a senior psychology major.
“I think it’s appropriate to build a new parking structure,” said Joey Becerra, a political science graduate student, “but I’m broke.”
Rob Palomba, a senior computer engineering major, said, “Another [parking] structure would be good. But I don’t know if students should be paying for all of it.”
Addressing the costs of parking construction, Charmack said the bond to fund the new parking structure is a CSU system revenue bond and is “the least expensive option.”
Charmack added that the university strives to stay cost-effective by balancing the need to provide more parking space with efforts “to keep the [parking permit] fee to a bare minimum.”
Keeping parking costs down also includes minimizing a parking surplus, Charmack said. That is, despite competition for parking spaces in the early part of a semester, most students with parking permits neither use a parking space all day nor typically use a space five days a week over an entire semester, Charmack said.
Rose Glidden, a junior philosophy major, said that in “the long run, [a new parking structure] is a good thing.” She added that she does not think it is fair to students who will already be gone to pay for parking they will not use.
The university has proposed the construction of two more multi-level parking structures in addition to the pending Parking Structure 3, according to Charmack. The new parking structures are expected to accommodate a projected steady rise in student enrollment.
CSULB’s Proposed Master Plan, dated June 2006, indicates the proposed construction of a fourth parking structure in Lot 14, northwest of Brotman Hall, and a fifth parking structure on the southeast corner of campus, near Seventh Street.
Based on the proposed master plan, the fourth structure is estimated to provide about 1,150 parking spaces and is proposed to replace an existing surface lot of about 1,095 student spaces.
The fifth structure is estimated to provide about 1,360 spaces and is proposed to replace an existing surface lot of about 211 employee spaces. Also outlined on the same plan is Parking Structure 3, which is expected to have about 1,320 parking stalls.
Currently, there are about 13,500 parking spaces on campus, Charmack said. This includes all student, employee, handicapped and rideshare spaces.
About 27,500 total student parking permits have been sold so far this semester, according to Thomas Kenna, director of Parking and Transportation/Special Events. This includes daily pay-station student-user permits.
“There’s always going to be a problem,” said Ulric Pattillo, a sixth-year computer engineering major. “It’s a crapshoot.”
