Back to the drawing board for athletic facility parking
Plan Commission sent DePauw University back to the drawing board in its request for approval of an off-street parking plan for expansion of the Lilly Recreation and Fitness Center.
At issue was the age-old topic of campus parking, only in this case it wasn't student on-street parking but available parking around campus athletic facilities that are being upgraded, added to or developed anew.
The DePauw request was tabled after 90 minutes of discussion when it became apparent the university was not likely to receive unanimous approval from the six voting members present Monday night.
The commission will meet in special session at 7 p.m. Monday, March 11 to consider the request anew.
Because the 11-member commission had only seven members present, and one of those (Eric Wolfe) had to abstain from the discussion and the vote because of his employment with the university, the remaining six needed to vote in favor of the measure to affect passage.
City Planner Shannon Norman explained that she used the parking requirement formula in the city zoning ordinance as it would have applied to a private fitness center coming to town (one spot for every 200 square feet of space).
That translates to DePauw's need for 514 spaces to encompass all uses within the Lilly Center, which has no on-site parking of its own, Norman noted.
In the University (UN) zoning district, DePauw would be allowed to count any off-street spaces "within 500 feet of the lot occupied by the use for which they are required."
Clearly, DePauw could count the 125 spaces in the Peeler Art Center lot, 102 spaces in the lot off Olive Street, 79 spaces in the Julian Science and Math Center lot and 49 in the two facilities maintenance lots. That totals 355 spots. In all, 371 spaces were said available in the immediate area.
The issue that went unresolved involves counting the spaces in lots across Jackson Street in the Blackstock Stadium area. It was pointed out that if those "shared" spots were counted in the Lilly Center venture, they should not be counted again in the next phase of the athletics expansion project in the Blackstock area.
DePauw director of athletics Stevie Baker-Watson argued that although the Lilly Center project was increasing the building's physical space, it was not adding to the numbers who use the facility, nor would the building be serving any new purpose.
As an example of how parking is dispersed during major events, she pointed to last Saturday night when two simultaneous events were unfolding literally across the street from each other.
"I personally walked the lots myself," she said.
The top-ranked DePauw women's basketball team was playing in the finals of its conference tourney in a game that started at 7 p.m. in the Lilly Center, while at the Performing Arts Center, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was appearing in a sold-out concert that represented the largest audience at the facility in years.
Baker-Watson surveyed the area, noting the parking spaces available.
At 7 p.m., she said, 45 spaces remained in the Peeler Art Center lot along the west side of South Indiana Street. Thirty minutes later, she said, 30 spots were left as the ISO was beginning its concert.
Calling last weekend "a challenge," Baker-Watson nonetheless said it proved a valuable point.
"I would submit that we can adequately handle visitors and guests," she told the Plan Commission, stressing that "the existing parking we have adequately handles the events we have there now."
The university is resistant to creating any more parking lots in the vicinity of the Lilly Center for aesthetic reasons if nothing else, it was pointed out.
"We don't want to encroach on the neighborhood or lose any of our green space," the athletics director said, explaining that the university also wants to ensure the safety of its students, visitors and friends. That means it would have to work with the city to make the crossing of South Jackson Street safer if the Blackstock parking lot was to come into play in the Lilly Center parking equation.
While most Plan Commission members admitted they had no problem with the parking alignment and layout, Donnie Watson was hesitant to give his approval.
He said he was fearful of setting a precedent for future projects deviating from parking requirements by employing the logic, "DePauw got to do it, why can't we?"
DePauw was urged to return with some tweaks to its plan and be ready to address parking in Phases II and III of the athletics expansion.
Plan Commission members Bill Hamm, Matt Walker, Sue Murray, Mike Murphy, Jack Murtagh, Watson and Wolfe were in attendance. Absent were Kathy Ferrand, Tim Trigg and Mark Hammer.