by John Allgood

During the last week of November, Washington & Lee University is going to test allegations that its students are causing a downtown parking shortage. It is conducting its own parking study of downtown Lexington.

This is to “counter or check” the Lexington planning commissioners’ perception that the students are the problem, said W&L architect Tom Contos.

Twelve students equipped with clipboards will canvass downtown and take note of who is parking where, said Contos. The students will check parking hourly for one day.

Planning Commissioner Bob Lera and Lexington Planning and Development Director Bill Blatter, who have criticized W&L for crowding out downtown shoppers and tourists, welcome the study.

 Photo by Shelley Orman

Lera said he would be glad to see more detailed evidence. Until now, there has only been anecdotal evidence that the students are the problem, he said. At the Sept. 22 meeting of the Lexington Planning Commission, Lera cited complaints from downtown merchants and personal observations as evidence that students were causing the downtown parking shortage.

While he welcomed more evidence, Lera questioned the validity of a one-day study. In the past, Lera said people have questioned the accuracy of his random observations. A multi-day study would be more accurate, he said.

Contos said that a one-day study would be enough because he would pick a “representative day.”

Lexington Planning and Development Director Bill Blatter supported the more detailed study of the problem but insisted that students living around Davidson Park are a major source of the problem. Students living around Davidson Park drive and park closer to campus, he said.

Supporting Blatter’s complaint, Davidson Park area residents Will Owens and John Bruton admitted that they drive closer to campus most of the time. The university does not allow upper class students residing within one-half mile of Washington Hall to park on university property between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The parking study is a result of a September meeting where the Lexington Planning Commission blamed Washington & Lee students for the parking shortage downtown and postponed the renewal of a routine W&L conditional use permit until the university fixed the parking problem.

After the Sept. 22 meeting, Blatter said there has been recent tension between the university and city planners. The tension comes from the university not honoring its agreements as it has in the past, Blatter said.

Lera, the most outspoken commissioner at the meeting, said that W&L’s deed has traditionally followed its word, but recently he has heard one thing and seen another. He cited two examples: unsanctioned Sunday work on W&L’s new arts and music facility and inaction in dealing with its shortage of parking.

On Oct. 19, W&L’s vice president for administration, Joe Grasso, issued a statement to Blatter and other city officials addressing the city’s complaints.

“This is to offer my apology for extending the work hours for the Art and Music project this past summer,” Grasso wrote.

Rebutting complaints that W&L was not dealing with its parking problem seriously, Grasso outlined a series of nine steps W&L has taken in the past year to address parking.

Among others, the outline included the imminent construction of a 22-space parking lot near the sorority houses, the in-house parking study and a notice to Red Square and Davidson Park residents asking them not to use the university’s parking garage.

“This was meant to alleviate some of the pressure on the parking garage,” Grasso wrote.

Blatter called this approach to fixing the Davidson Park problem ineffective. Students park downtown when they can’t park close to campus, he said. Blatter said that the university needs to supply enough on-campus parking for all of its students.

“The current system only makes sense if you have inadequate parking,” Blatter said.
 

Lexington fed up with W&L students parking downtown

Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.

Lead supervisor:      Prof. Claudette Artwick

Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming

Editing supervisor:  Prof. Pamela Luecke

Technical supervisor:  Michael Todd