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A closer look at the nation’s most beautiful campus may reveal a range of frustrated drivers and hopeful administrators.
Senior Jackie Pickering said she was willing to give leeway to the parking situation during the first weeks of the semester, but she continues to see unhappy commuters around campus.
“It’s still so horrible,” Pickering said.
As parking discontent has noticeably risen at Pepperdine this fall, university leaders are searching for solutions, though tangible results could be years away.
Officials say concrete plans are far from public announcement but indicate that among preliminary options are building new parking structures, restricting permits and imposing fees.
An estimated 4,000 vehicles were registered this year, and there are roughly 4,000 parking spaces on campus, according to Dawn Emrich, assistant director of Public Safety. Of those spaces, 100 are designated for carpool permits and the only areas designated for “commuters only” are parts of Seaver Drive and Banowsky Boulevard.
The most prevalent parking violations are for expired permits or lack thereof. They are also for vehicles parked in spaces designated for others, Emrich said.
The latter includes residents who choose to park in a space designated for commuter students, cars without valid carpool passes or students parked in a faculty/staff space.
Mounting parking citations and seeming administrative inaction about parking appear to be the primary basis for student complaints.
“The only way we (students) know about parking right now is the tickets,” Pickering said.
Administrators are exploring and discussing feasible parking solutions, however.
The university’s Construction and Campus Planning Group is developing a master plan for Seaver that includes several new buildings and the remodel of several buildings, according to Provost Darryl Tippens.
“Additional parking will be an essential element in the new plans,” Tippens wrote via e-mail.
Also active in the planning process are the University Management Committee, University Planning Committee and Steering Committee, according to Assistant Vice President Shirley Roper. Eventually, the Board of Regents will also take part in final decisions, Roper said.
University President Andrew K. Benton said he considers the construction of a couple of parking garages to be the most viable long-term solution.
According to Benton, such a decision about parking expansion will be affected by keeping costs down, managing construction so that it does not significantly impact the campus learning environment and paying for the improvements.
Engineering issues factor in, too.
“If you’ve seen the drilling rig in the main lot the last few weeks, it’s because we are checking what’s beneath the parking lot in order to determine the feasibility of building an underground lot,” Tippens said. “It’s one possibility.”
Tippens said he thinks it is feasible to have some new parking within five years and definitely within 10 years.
It is premature to discuss timeline and cost, though, according to Benton.
But one option to offset the costs, he said, is to consider restricting parking privileges to sophomores, juniors and seniors. Other universities such as Stanford and Princeton have policies that put limitations on freshman parking.
“I prefer not to lead with that option,” Benton said.
As disgruntled voices call for university action, not all students consider parking to be such an issue.
“I always find a spot,” said junior Brent Schackmann, who attributes this ease to his schedule.
Tippens insists that community members gain perspective — Pepperdine’s parking problem is not unique, as other universities face worse situations.
“Parking is a pain. We know this,” Tippens said. “But it’s a misfortune, not a tragedy.”
He added, “We have a convenience problem more than we have a parking problem … When you build a campus on a mountain side you have fabulous benefits — great ocean views, for example — but that means that parking spaces are doubly hard to come by.”
Submitted 09-29-2005
MALIBU, CA
