Portland planning board members criticized USM’s plan for additional faculty and staff parking at last week’s meeting.
University officials addressed the need for additional parking once construction begins on the Science Building in Portland this spring.
Faculty and staff are expected to lose 117 spots and the University is trying to create 37 additional spaces, just one-third of the total loss. There are a total of 595 parking spaces for faculty and staff on the Portland campus.
The faculty/staff lot between the Science building and Sullivan Gym will be restricted to construction personnel while the Bioscience wing is built. During this period, 117 spaces will be unusable.
Construction is planned to begin in March and be completed by April of 2003. USM plans to create 37 spots, with 21 temporary, until the lot is restored.
“Anything we can do to medicate some of the parking problem, we will do,” said Dave Early, executive director of Facilities Management.
Last week’s planning board meeting was a workshop designed for both the city and University to give suggestions, get input, hear expectations, and ask questions.
Early proposed three ideas:
– Expand the metered parking lot next to Payson Smith on Falmouth Street, adding eight more paved spots. This would be a permanent addition.
– Extend the faculty/staff lot in front of the Alumni House on Bedford, creating 21 spots. This alteration would be laid in gravel and only offer a temporary solution. The area would be restored when the new parking garage is completed.
– Pave eight more spaces between 120 and 126 Bedford St., where the sociology and political science departments are located. At the end of the driveways between these two buildings are old, “dilapidated” garages. Early would like to remove the unused structures and pave a new lot, joining the driveways.
Altogether, the adjustments would add approximately 9,200 square feet of additional parking.
However, some members of the planning board were apprehensive about the proposal. Kenneth Cole III, a board member, expressed concern about institutional adjustments made to a residential home. He questioned if the University should file an “after the fact” change of use form. The form is an application that allows adjustments on residences that were converted for institutional use. Municipal laws require any construction on residential structures purchased after 1994 to file the form.
Cole wants assurance that adjustments meet zoning requirements for the city. He wants further research on the zoning laws before granting approval.
Early argued that the University purchased the 120 Bedford St. building in 1968 and 126 Bedford St. in 1987, several years before the act went into effect. He said he is baffled the notion was even addressed.
” What’s the point of filing. Its wasn’t required back then. I don’t know what the big deal is. Why the city is asking us to do it, is the question. Why is it even an issue?” Early said.
The issue was not resolved at the meeting. Members of the board will clear the matter with USM before the next meeting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26.
Deborah Krichels, vice chair, addressed another concern. She was concerned with how the aesthetics of the campus would be altered. Merging the driveways on Bedford Street bothered her.
“It’s a shame we’re seeing the beautiful homes converted. It’s a shame. I wish there was an alternative.”
She wants a guarantee that the alumni lot extension is temporary and that the lawn and trees will be restored.
“We want to make sure that the space gets restored. It’s the heart of the campus and it’s beautiful,” said Krichels.
She proposed the city hold off on granting the certificate of occupancy for drivers to park in the garage until the temporary lot is restored.
Early suggested that a 30-day agreement would be more practical. Once the garage is completed the lot would be closed within 30 days. This way, there would be a period of overlap for drivers to adjust to the changes. Early wants everyone to have a place to park. He doesn’t want to see faculty taking up student spots.
“To me this gravel lot isn’t very expensive and would offer relief. They’re tying up a $20 million job, when we know what the parking is like,” Early said.
Although Early said he was confused by some of the board member’s reasoning, he was glad the issues were addressed.
“We got input from the board and now we know what needs to be done,” Early said.
Judy Ryan, vice president for Student Development, also attended the meeting, and left with feelings similar to Early’s, “It wasn’t certainly all negative. We’ve obviously got to get some of the zoning cleared up. But, since it’s mostly temporary I hope we can work through it.”
News Editor Sherry Whittemore can be contacted at: [email protected]