Survey coming on Fayetteville High School parking

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Cars are visible parked in marked parking spaces Tuesday in a gravel parking lot on the east side of Buchanan Avenue on the opposite side of Fayetteville High School.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Cars are visible parked in marked parking spaces Tuesday in a gravel parking lot on the east side of Buchanan Avenue on the opposite side of Fayetteville High School.

FAYETTEVILLE -- School district officials are looking to students and parents to help them better understand the high school parking problem.

Megan Slocum, associate superintendent for support services, said they are working on a survey that will include questions aimed at determining how many high school students want to drive to school and what their experience has been obtaining a parking permit and parking. Responses will be anonymous.

Before the district can move forward with a parking solution, it has to fully understand the problem, she said. Slocum did not give a timeline for this process.

"I plan to really try to isolate and look at the reality of the current situation with parking," Slocum said. "What we are trying to work on is to figure out who needs [a space], who has one and then develop some kind of system where we have parking that's available."

The high school has 442 student parking spots and 1,283 juniors and seniors, according to the early enrollment numbers.

Every senior can get a parking permit, which costs $50 for the school year, if they request one in the spring. Juniors who request a permit are placed on a waiting list and randomly chosen to get one, Principal Jay Dostal said. This year, 130 juniors have a spot and 109 are on the waiting list, he said.

"We all acknowledge that there is a student problem with parking," Superintendent John L Colbert said during a school board facilities workshop Tuesday. "We are going to have to address that and are looking to incorporate the city into that discussion. That is on the top of our list."

The discussion around Fayetteville High parking is not new. The school tried busing students who park at the public library. There was an agreement with the University of Arkansas to use spaces in Lot 56 along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Neither worked as permanent solutions, school officials said.

Some students pay 10 times or more the cost of school-issued permits to park on private property nearby. The city recently issued notices to the owners of three gravel lots because they were violating codes about parking in residential areas and building lots.

Hourglass Holdings has submitted a conditional use permit application for 328 and 322 S. Duncan Ave. The item is on the Planning Commission agenda for Sept. 24, said Drew Richmond with the city planning division.

Richard Grubbs, who has a lot on his Buchanan Avenue property, said he started a student lot to help with the parking need and has a waiting list every year. His lot has 24 spots, he said.

"I wish we could find a solution to the parking problem besides these lots, but it has to be convenient and not a mile or more away," Grubbs said. "It looks like they are working toward that."

Suzanne Vaughn has paid for her son to park in Grubbs' lot for two years after he didn't get a school permit his junior year.

"As a parent, I am glad to have that available," she said. "We felt so lucky we were able to get a spot and you just park and walk across Bulldog [Avenue] to the school."

The district's survey will be emailed to all high school students and parents to get their input on the problem and possible solution, Slocum said.

During the workshop Tuesday, the school board and members of the administration discussed the possibility of moving the baseball field from behind the high school to property on Lewis Avenue near the Lady Dawg Yard Softball Park. If the board decided to go that direction, it would free up space that could be used for parking, Slocum said. The area would have to be assessed to see how many spaces would fit.

The board also discussed if the current parking is being optimized. Colbert said they are looking at hiring a group to assess it.

Re-striping the parking lot and creating more compact car spaces could possibly provide more spots, Slocum said. Students do not have assigned parking spots and doing so could help the school better track which spaces are being used throughout the year, Slocum said.

"There is a short term and a long discussion that we are having," board president Justin Eichmann said.

Some community members have suggested a parking garage as a possible answer, which can run about $5 million, Slocum said.

"I don't know how fiscally possible that would be for us, but it's true when you can't go out you can go up," she said. "I would say anything is possible."

NW News on 09/10/2018

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