Parking availability close to campus has been a constant problem for Longwood University commuter students. Even though parking lots have opened up surrounding campus, the demand has raised on spacesnear academic buildings.
The Longwood commuter pays up to 250 dollars annually to park in these spots that are often times too small to park in for an average sized car, especially if you want a spot close to campus.
These dues are very expensive, but Chief of Longwood Police Department, Bob Beach, says that the money pays for fab bus services, five or six leased parking lots, paving, signs, the painting of the lines and it takes care of maintenance.
There are multiple parking lots with larger spaces, but some require a longer walk. “Make sure you are aware of at least three lots on campus and make sure you schedule accordingly,” says Jennifer Cox, director of commuter life.
Rumors about whether Longwood Parking services will be opening up faculty parking after five to students has been brought up, but according to Rice, they moved away from this step and do not plan on returning to it.
“After five it was open parking, but now that we have our conferencing and scheduling department, they are trying to make some revenue too,” says Longwood Parking Manager, Laura Rice. “When Chief Beach came in 2007, he converted it so everyone stayed in their zone to guarantee spaces such as the Jarman lot for functions.”
With Longwood being in the middle of Farmville, it is difficult to add additional parking spaces, especially close to campus. According to Rice, many of these parking lots around campus are not owned by Longwood; making it difficult to make changes to the lots.
“We can’t expand but so far, and I can understand the students point of view, but we just can’t afford to do that,” says Rice. “Although, we do allow Lancer Park students to park in commuter at night.”
“If we had to add more spots for commuters, Virginia Street would be a good place,” says Rice. “This would still be relatively close to campus.” According to Beach, Longwood provides plenty of parking, it would be better if it were more evenly distributed, but we can’t afford to do that at the moment.
And according to Rice, as of right now, there are 13 places for faculty and staff to park and 12 locations for the commuters. Students who are employed by Longwood are often times stuck not knowing how to get to campus if their shift is early in the morning.
“Student staff should be able to park in the Faculty and Staff parking,” says Amber Patrick, Longwood University Campus Recreation employee. “For example, during the week, the gym opens before the FAB runs, making students who live off campus either walk or drive.”
Parking Services does realize the inconvenience of having to walk far, especially in the dark for students. Rice suggested calling the Student Safety Organization or campus police to provide escorts after hours of darkness.
