A recent spike in temporary parking needs near campus prompted the University’s Department of Public Safety to sign a contract with PeaceHealth, a non-profit health care provider, which would allow 150 spaces in a parking structure located at the corner of East 13th Avenue and Hilyard Street to be rented.
To help mediate the recent loss of parking spaces on and around campus caused by recent building construction, the University, acting through DPS’s Office of Parking and Transportation, took headlong measures to ensure that commuters can park within walking distance of campus. Construction projects such as the East Campus Residence Hall, Matthew Knight Arena and Ford Alumni Center have collectively eliminated more than 400 spaces, a dilemma that was further strained by this fall’s 1000-student enrollment increase.
To accommodate fall’s lull in parking availability, the University sought out a temporary, partial solution by renting parking spaces from PeaceHealth at $25 per space per month, according to the lease agreement obtained via public records request. DPS then set aside 100 spaces in the hospital’s structure for faculty and staff, student and visitor parking at the University-wide base annual rate of $400 for employees and $300 for students. For visitors who use the off-campus space, 30-day permits cost $60 and single-day permits cost $10. In addition to these day-use spaces, 50 overnight parking spots have also been leased in the structure for University students holding overnight parking permits.
If the 150 total PeaceHealth spaces will be used by an amalgamation of University employees, students and visitors, DPS is in line to make several thousand dollars above rental costs. DPS Executive Director Doug Tripp said in an e-mail that the current parking rates are calculated by taking into account the department’s operating costs, and suggested that it will eventually break even when PeaceHealth’s 12-month lease expires.
“The Office of Parking and Transportation does not generate ‘profits.’ Rather, it charges standardized rates with the intention of covering its campus-wide operating costs and obligations,” Tripp said.
In light of the sustained increase in parking that the University expects to see by the end of the 2010-2011 academic year, Tripp said the University is unlikely to renew the lease for next year.
“This contract will cease at the end of the current academic term when new University parking facilities come on-line,” he said.
Many long-term efforts to bolster parking space availability, such as the 153-space Northside Parking Lot along the Willamette riverfront, will collectively bring 600 spaces online by January of next year, boosting the total number of accessible spaces across campus to 3,700.
According to an Oct. 1 DPS memorandum penned by DPS Capt. Herb Horner, the hospital’s parking structure areas will fall under DPS’ jurisdiction throughout the lease term.
“The UO Department of Public Safety will patrol the parking structure areas and enforce parking permit requirements,” Horner wrote in the memorandum.
Per Tripp’s reasoning, labor costs associated with security and maintenance will be paid for with revenue stemming from permit sales to park in the PeaceHealth lot, among the several other University parking facilities.
“Parking fees are assessed to cover the operating costs associated with campus-wide parking and transportation operations, programs and services,” Tripp said.
However, ASUO President Amelie Rousseau said that a lack of student and administrative oversight from outside the department has created a situation where long-term planning for parking costs does not include input from those who will foot the resulting bill.
“I think faculty and students have a lot of concerns about DPS’ fiscal responsibility,” Rousseau said. “They have a monopoly, so they don’t need to be competitive … or answer to the people who they are billing or ticketing.”
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Temporary parking brings in 150 more spaces for students and staff
Daily Emerald
November 15, 2010
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