Due to the recent construction and increase in enrollment on the Moorpark College campus, finding a parking spot close to the classrooms during the peak hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. has become nearly impossible.
“I can never find parking in the main area,” said Julian Navarro, 20, a mechanical engineering major. “I get here an hour early to guarantee I have a parking spot.”
Students are currently limited to 3,755 parking spaces. The never-ending issue of parking has worsened this semester due to an increase in student enrollment and ongoing construction projects. The number of registered students has reached a school high of 15,260.
Before the semester began, there were a total of 120 student stalls removed. The main area affected being the SX lot, which has been closed to construct a new Health Science building with a resulting 104 parking spaces lost. Upon completion only 30 spots are slated to return.
According to Ray DiGuilio, Vice President of Business Services, a number of parking spots in lot C were designated for staff parking when they decommissioned the SX parking lot.
“It’s been challenging. But I wouldn’t say it’s the worst it has ever been.”
The worst it has ever been at Moorpark College, Ray Di Guilio says according to the College Police, was in 2002 when all the overflow parking was filled, and as a result they had to create six hundred new parking stalls.
On Tuesday, Sept. 2, the Facilities Committee on Accreditation and Planning will meet to discuss possible ways to deal with the current parking problem.
To accommodate the increase of students, the practice football field was striped for overflow parking. Although the dirt overflow parking lot above campus has helped students get to class on time, some students have received citations for parking in the overflow lot past the 5 p.m. closing deadline.
“There are plenty of parking spaces,” said Moorpark College Police Lieutenant Kegley. “It’s just a matter of finding the ideal parking space. If you have a 10 o’clock class, come early and park in the grass.”
Kegley also said that students who received a citation the first week should see campus police to get their ticket withdrawn.
Some students resorted to parking in the neighboring residential area where students were cited $40 by the Moorpark Police Dept. for parking illegally.
There are alternative ways of transportation offered on campus including bus transportation and carpooling. Owners of the Campus Plaza will allow Moorpark staff and students to leave their vehicles in the parking lots as a carpool meeting area through the end of September. The Campus Plaza is located at the bottom of the hill from Moorpark College.
Creating more parking spaces is on the front burner of issues the campus is looking into solving, DiGuilio said. One possible idea is the construction of a parking structure to accommodate the number of students for future semesters, but with the current state-wide budget constraints, nothing is certain.
Economics Professor Rex Edwards has seen many semesters of parking woes on campus. “Don’t worry about parking,” he said. “When midterms come around, parking will change tremendously.”
Those that can’t wait and are seeking an avenue to avoid the hassle of parking, can always follow the age-old adage, “the early bird gets the worm.”
