CAMPUS
NEWS
UPDATE: PARKING
STORY
LIZ FUENTES
NATHAN JACOBO
PHOTO
GOOGLE MAPS
CONCRETE
BLUES
Since February of this year, 384 total parking spots have
been lost due to campus construction projects. A vacant
lot owned by the district will not bring them back.
A
s construction con-
tinues on campus,
causing parking
issues and delays, an
empty lot sits across
the street. In 2013, Ran-
cho Santiago Commu-
nity College District
purchased the empty lot
for $5 million with a plan
to create 181 parking
spaces for faculty or staff
members. But to date no
eff orts have been made
towards that end.
RSCCD Trustee John
Hanna said that a lot
of options have been
discussed for the vacant
lot, but no fi nal decision
has been made.
The fi rst option was
to create space to
store materials for our
construction projects,
which includes the new
Central Mall, the Johnson
Student Center and new
Health Sciences build-
BELOW
The land on the
corner of 17th and
Bristol streets was
purchased four years
ago by the district.
ings, all expected to con-
tinue through 2022. The
second option was hous-
ing for students. With the
new bachelors program, it
would help the students
who attend SAC for more
than a three years. The
third option was to hold
onto the property as a
NO PARKING LOT
The RSCCD paid $5 million
for a proposed overfl ow lot
in 2013, but offi cials say
that there is no need for
it at SAC because of
decreasing enrollment.
liquid asset in case of a
fi nancial crisis.
“We put $5 million
out, we could sell that
for more today,” Hanna
said, “We don’t know what
the future holds. That is
a safety vault for us. We
can’t use it for educational
use.”
In addition to being
down 384 parking spots
due to campus construc-
tion, sections of lots on
campus have been closed
over the last month for
tree trimming. The school
did not issue a warning to
students ahead of time,
causing frustration.
“This is a cause for
concern,” student Anthoni
Avila said. “Not only am I
late sometimes because
of traffi c, but now having
to waste time on fi nding a
spot is very frustrating.”
Offi cials say develop-
ment of the empty lot
has been put on hold as
the district continues to
explore other options.
“I’ll leave you with this,
the spaces are too narrow,
and the exits are too far
from each other or lead
straight into traffi c, this is a
mess”, SAC student Lucas
Covarrubias, said.
el Don Santa Ana College · October 29, 2018
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