Gabriel Welsch | Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Coverage of the perceived parking issue continues to be problematic. The story in the 9/19 issue, “City Planning: some overflow parking on campus unapproved” is factually incorrect and misleading.

The university’s Institutional Master Plan (IMP) is a forward-looking plan for a 10-year period, and not a day-to-day operational requirement. Just because a zone is not included on the plan does not mean the university cannot temporarily use a space as short-term needs arise, particularly as Duquesne also owns all of the streets on campus. They are not city property. In presenting the IMP, the university does need to count available parking spaces both at the time and anticipated over the life of the plan, but if on a given day we need to park a car on a lawn or a sidewalk, for instance, we are able to do so and not be in violation of any plan or ordinance.

As a result, the claim that Duquesne’s overflow parking is “not approved” is misleading — occasional short-term fluctuations in space use are not violations of the IMP. They are not “approved” or “unapproved” because they are simply not part of the IMP’s concerns. As Scott Richards stated, Duquesne complies with all relevant requirements for operation. The suggestion to the contrary is flatly wrong.

Additionally, you may find the following information useful.

In order to manage parking needs, the university intentionally cut sales for parking permits in Forbes, Locust and other on-campus lots earlier this year in order to manage potential increased demand. In addition, the university added 250 spots in Chatham Garage compared to the prior year, where 450 employees and students currently park. During the initial crunch at the start of the semester—which happens every year until schedules regularize—the university also opened up under-utilized surface lots so that anyone with an on-campus parking permit could park there.

As the numbers show, student day permits for on-campus are down 2% from last year, and are only 100 more than two years ago, while the University has added 450 spaces in Chatham Garage to meet increased demand. Additionally, overall permit sales (which includes faculty and staff) for on-campus (which, again, does not include Chatham Garage permits) are down 1% over last year and are at their lowest level in three years.