New Committee to Grapple with Parking Issues

Gene Lucas, associate dean of the College of Engineering, will head a new campus parking advisory committee, Chancellor Henry Yang announced last week. The committee will "consult broadly...and will review the entire way we address and resolve parking issues," Yang said in a memo.

The Parking Advisory Committee is in part an outgrowth, the chancellor said, of the widespread expressions of concern over increased parking fees and "the burden it places on our staff, faculty, and students." He thanked those who took the time to write and speak with him on the subject, and stressed that the comprehensive review of parking issues he envisioned would include input from staff, students, and faculty, especially the Academic Senate.

At the same time, the chancellor said that due to the importance of the California NanoSystems Institute facility and parking structure planned for lot 10 adjacent to Engineering II, the CNSI project "needs to go before the Regents for approval" at the board's meeting on Nov. 14-15. Part of that package is a financing plan, which currently includes a general parking fee increase of up to $15 a month.

"The actual parking rate increase that will accompany construction of the lot 10 parking structure may be less than that," said Yang. Structural design features, such as final size and levels above and below ground, and "other parking policies the campus may adopt" will influence final rate increases. The new committee's first priority would be identification of "ways of reducing the rate increase," he said.

Following the final rate decision to support the CNSI parking structure, the chancellor promised that "no further rate increases will be considered until we have had time for a full campuswide review and development of long-term parking policies."