DOTS plan aims to help developers

Transportation Services Director David Allen on Friday said he plans to allow students living in select off-campus complexes to park on the campus, breaking from a policy he hinted at beginning last semester.

Although he could not give a definitive date for when the department would institute the policy, a draft of the university's strategic plan, a document outlining the school's 10-year vision, calls for the university to "allow overflow parking from private housing onto campus."

But last semester, Allen said he'd do just the opposite as students who lived within walking distance from the university had started taking up commuter parking spaces, parking at the university rather than at their homes to avoid the fight for a limited number of off-campus parking permits.

At the time, Allen said the decision was necessary because commuter students had nowhere to park, but on Friday Allen said allowing off-campus students to park on the campus could provide developers an incentive to build apartment complexes within walking distance and alleviate the university's "severe housing crisis."

Not having to provide parking to all of their tenants, these up-and-coming complexes would save a lot of money, said Allen.

"More people will take the shuttle, so if we allow developments to park cars here, we are still in a better situation, he said.

In doing so, Allen said, some of these students would park in overnight lots on the campus and others would park at lots or garages provided by the developments - but nearly all of them would take the shuttle to get to class.

If this were true, Allen surmises that on-campus parking would actually decrease because it would take a population that used to commute to class via cars and have them use the shuttle.

"People have said that we don't need any more huge complexes on Route 1, and I disagree with that," Allen said. "The more places we have like the [University] View, the better."

However, Allen said that if developers were to take advantage of the university's offer, parking permits are likely to change.

"Rather than commuters and residents," Allen said, "we will start calling people daily parkers or day and night parkers." This way, off-campus parkers who use an overflow lot provided by the university would have to pay more than commuter students.

University Provost Nariman Farvardin, whose office is responsible for the Strategic Plan, said he is optimistic about providing an incentive to alleviate the housing crisis. "We can help these businesses and our students at the same time," he said.

District 4 Councilwoman Mary Cook said she sees no problem with providing incentives for off-campus housing development, as long as the complexes aren't as tall as the University View, which violates the city's Route 1 sector program, an initiative that prohibits high-rises near campus.

Cook acknowledged that the city's plan wasn't feasible.

"I think it's a logical thing to do," Cook said. "We've already broken the rules and it's just more growth, anyway."

As of yet, the university has made no official deals with off-campus developers.

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