By ALEX COSTELLO
Following an early evening tour of the empty parking lots on campus given to village officials and residents who live in the area by Rockville Centre school Superintendent Dr. William Johnson, school officials began to outline their ideas at the second part of the meeting, which took place in Village Hall.
"If we created 450 spots on that campus," said Johnson, "I think all the problems in the neighborhood would disappear."
In recent months, parking on the high school campus has become a hot-button issue, as the village took away 20 spots on Fireman's Field (the village-owned field adjacent to the high school that the fire department uses for training and firefighter games and the school has used for parking) without notifying the school. Drivers to the high school had come to depend on the 129 spots in that lot that along with parking on the campus, could accommodate all staff, and some students.
The field is also the home of the Rockville Centre Fire Department's hazardous material (hazmat) equipment storage. The fire department needs constant, unobstructed access to that area in case of an emergency in Rockville Centre or the surrounding communities.
According to a tally by the district, the South Side campus has 133 marked and 20 unmarked parking spots. With the 129 spots on Fireman's Field, along with seven unmarked spots in Fireman's Field, seven handicapped spots on the school campus and four spots for buses, the school has a total of 302 parking spots.
There are 223 staff members at the school on an average day, and an additional 51 for the administration annex on the property. And with spots cordoned off for visitors, Johnson said there are usually 10-15 spots for students. However, 90 parking permits were granted to students this year.
Because there are not enough spots for the students, many are forced to park along Shepherd Street, Princeton Road and Hampshire Road (the roads closest to the school). Residents of those blocks complain that students leave garbage and damage their lawns while parking, and say they do not want the students parking on the streets.
"We're not going to be able to solve all of our problems," said Board of Education President Mark Masin, "but let's work together to solve this one."
To that end, school officials proposed that areas of Fireman's Field, and a few areas of school grounds, be paved over and converted to parking, which they said would help alleviate the problems.
The district's proposal would add over 150 spots to the school campus. However, Deputy Mayor Charles Joyce, speaking on behalf of the fire department, voiced his opposition to parts of the idea, saying that some of the areas the school district wanted to pave over were used by firefighters.
"That field is dedicated to the firefighters," said Joyce.
When questioned about exactly how many spots their plan would add, and how much it would cost, the school district was unable to provide the village with hard numbers.
The two parties agreed to hold another meeting, during which the school district would fill in the facts it was missing. Both parties said they hoped that meeting could be organized much more quickly than the first meeting.
But both sides agreed that it was a "very fruitful first endeavor," as Board of Education Trustee Steven Kriss put it.
"I don't know if the school board wants to pave over paradise either," said school board Vice President Kathy Horace, "but suggestions were made here to alleviate the problem."
Comments about this story? ACostello@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
