NIU President John LaTourette called for the Campus Parking Committee to work with administrators, chosen by LaTourette, to bring about “some definite progress toward a long-term solution” to the parking problem by the end of the 1988 spring semester.

There has been a “parking crisis for some years now, and it doesn’t seem to me that the situation is getting any better,” LaTourette said, adding, “If you don’t have a plan for the future, the problem will get worse.”

Issues LaTourette said the committee and staff should look into include more peripheral parking, restriction of vehicle access to campus, a multilevel parking facility and higher permit prices for spaces close to campus.

LaTourette said peripheral parking, meaning outside the campus grounds, is important because it can be added “in a cost-efficient manner.” He said if NIU owns land, it still costs $1,000 to $1,100 per space to build a lot. He said the state considers parking to be a campus responsibility and cannot be considered as a source of revenue.

One source of revenue available is the refinancing of NIU’s revenue bonds which could provide an interest of $80,000 to $100,000 annually per $1 million, but LaTourette said he would not consider this option unless the committee agreed to raise permit fees. Otherwise, students would bear the interest costs through higher fees or room and board rates, he said.

Restrictions on cars on campus might include the elimination of freshman permits. Larry Bolles, director of NIU judicial office and committee member, said the committee rejected the proposal because they feared a reduction in freshman enrollments would result.

LaTourette said students who only are concerned with NIU’s parking “should go someplace else.”

A multilevel parking facility “does not look very promising,” LaTourette said, adding that it would cost $4,000 to $5,000 per space. Charging higher permit rates for spaces close to campus might help solve the problem and can be implemented sooner, he said.

Jack Bennet, professor of biological sciences and former committee member, said LaTourette’s proposal was a “misrepresentation” of the issue. He said he was concerned increased fees would pay for maintenance and snow removal rather than for new lots. “Why should we raise fees to pay for more groundsmen?” he said.

LaTourette said NIU is required by law and NIU guidelines to charge the committee for snow removal. He agreed to reduce the number of groundsmen the committee must pay for from 5 to 4 until a new computer system, to be implemented this fall, reveals the exact cost.