UHCL has no immediate plans for a parking structure on campus

The University of Houston-Clear Lake master plan includes projects such as building a parking structure for students, but the question is: when will the plans go into effect?

Eric Herrera, associate vice president for Facilities Management and Constructions, said when it comes to the plans for a parking garage, the project has been added to a wish list that the university submits to the University of Houston- System, which is then in turn submitted to the UH Board of Regents.

Herrera said any significant project that surpasses $1 million, has to go through the Board Regents and, in addition, the school has to ask for state funding for the project.

“Some [funding] would be coming out of the student parking fees, but the way that it works is that you can request a certain percentage and the other percentage comes from the tuition reimbursement program from the state,” Herrera said.

Herrera said that the issue of funds for the parking garage is a delicate subject when it comes to the students because it means that their parking fees may increase with the construction of the parking garage.

As for a projected start date for construction on a parking garage, Herrera said the plans will not go into effect for at least another three years.

“There is a plan for a parking structure in the University’s master plan, but there is no funding or a current plan to secure funding,” said Harry Glass, manager of the Parking and Transportation Department. “Parking is funded 100% from the parking permit fee that faculty, staff and students pay. That revenue stream from parking permit and other fees does not currently generate sufficient revenue to build a parking structure.”

Herrera said, in the meantime, they would be adding a new shuttle bus to the existing shuttle as well as an electric eight-seater vehicle, with air conditioning, that will travel in a loop between the Arbor Building, Delta Building, Hunter Hall, Student Services Center and Classroom Building, and Bayou Building every 15 minutes. He hopes that this will alleviate the parking issues that the students are having.

The new shuttles should be fully operational within the next couple of weeks. An updated schedule for the shuttle will be posted on the shuttle schedule webpage.

Herrera said one of the main concerns coming out of the Student Government Association is the lack of accessibility or covered parking for handicapped students. Herrera said they will be adding ADA parking in front of Hunter Hall. He said that in order to be more accommodating to the handicapped students they are exploring ways to add more covered parking in general.

However, Glass doesn’t see covered parking at UHCL anytime soon.

“The University currently has no covered parking and no plan that allows the funding of covered parking.” Glass said. “A few options are being explored such as solar panel structures, etc., but there is no current plan in place or funding.”

Herrera also said they are looking into pricing for the cost of a covered walkway down the center of lot D as well as the main sidewalks.

Ximena Flandes, vice president committee coordinator with the Student Government Association, feels that the lack of parking spaces affects the quality of learning for students because they spend so much time looking for a parking spot that they end up missing portions of their classes.

“We only have 2,500 spots but on Tuesdays we have 4,000 students,” Flandes said.

Aside from the extra fees that could be included for parking, Flandes said the need for a  parking structure is also an example of how UHCL is growing as a school and with more parking and fewer obstacles it also increases the enrollment potential for UHCL.

When it comes to the lack of covered ADA parking and walkways, Flandes said that the issue is something that SGA is actively working on. When Hurricane Imelda hit at the beginning of the semester, Flandes said many handicapped students came to them expressing their concerns on this matter.

Flandes has personally contacted Herrera and Glass about the lack of covered ADA parking and walkways, and they stated the issue will be one of the topics that will be discussed in the Parking and Traffic Safety subcommittee, which meets once a month.

Additionally, Flandes said that the SGA senate will be creating a role for the senators that includes identifying problems on campus as well as creating resolutions/proposals that can be turned in to higher administration.  There are currently four to five senators that are creating resolutions/proposals to address the issue of the lack of covered ADA parking spaces and walkways.

Flandes said that she, along with other SGA members, have met with Mark Denney, VP of administration and finance, about the parking situation and Flandes believes that the parking issue has just recently become a problem, and it has become a problem sooner than was anticipated.

“Parking problems are a topic that is often discussed in meetings and SGA is working on the problem and will push forward in order to come up with resolutions,” Flandes said.