From Rob & Jenny

As current/former residents of the townhouses and the leaders of the SGA, we have been strongly advocating for increased parking capacity in the University Townhouse complex. On October 30, 2007, the SGA published a report on parking in the townhouses that was delivered to Colgate’s most senior administrators. Many conversations, meetings, and negotiations have taken place after that and significant progress has been made. In fact, a civil engineer and a landscape architect have been hired to work on this project, which is currently slated to begin construction this summer. If the current plan comes to fruition, the parking lot will increase by about 50 spots without encroaching upon the green space to the south of Townhouse 9.

We know that immediate relief is needed, but there is no feasible plan to increase parking on a faster timeline than the one that we have described. Therefore, we write to townhouse residents and visitors with some advice and a warning. The advice is that you be smart about where you park in the complex. Do not park on grass, sidewalks, walkways, or anything similar to that.

The warning is that Campus Safety has been extremely forgiving in the past few months but due to egregious parking violations by some residents, that policy is about to change. Please be mindful that the sidewalks are meant for pedestrians and that parking in non-existent spots creates a safety and fire hazard. You will get ticketed or towed if you continue to leave your car in unsafe places.

We appreciate all the input that we have gotten from many of you over the past few months and look forward to hearing from more of you throughout the semester. We promise to work hard with Residential Life, Campus Safety and Buildings & Grounds to make the University Townhouse complex as accessible and desirable as possible. Additionally, we have formed a relationship with these offices to help facilitate more student involvement in the planning of such facilities in the future.