TENNIS COURTS VS. PARKING LOTS: SOME WANT TO KEEP THE COURTS ON HENDERSON

Judi Brey feels like the pavement is encroaching on what little grass and landscaping is left around the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

Brey and about 70 of her neighbors along Henderson Avenue are opposed to the university's plan to remove existing tennis courts and build a parking lot between Woodland and Hillcrest drives.

The residents signed a petition and sent it to the university in January. The university, however, is exempt from city zoning regulations, so the residents' concerns had little weight in the matter.

Because the university is funded at a state level, it is exempt from local zoning regulations but must comply with stormwater regulations and other rules that affect city utilities, said Kent Bratton, city planner.

In response to the residents, the university said the additional parking is necessary and continued with its plans to remove the tennis courts.

"I feel like one day I'm going to wake up and see only pavement," Brey said. Her home at the corner of Hillcrest Drive and Henderson Avenue sits almost directly across the street from the courts.

Brey has lived in the house for about 15 years, and tennis courts have been a fixture in the neighborhood all that time. "One of the things we loved about the neighborhood was having the courts," she said. "Our children played there with the kids in the neighborhood."

Until Monday night, the tennis courts were still in use. Crews began working this week to remove the lights and begin tearing out the courts.

New courts are being built at the intersection of Sprigg and Bertling streets and should be complete within a month. Those courts are part of a university plan to move all the sports and recreational facilities to the north end of campus.

A concrete pedestrian and bike path being built by the city will end at the university's tennis courts. Construction of the path is paid by the city, which will be reimbursed $296,150 from the Missouri Department of Transportation. The trail begins on Lexington Avenue and will connect with existing sidewalks in front of Barbara Blanchard Elementary School.

Once the old tennis courts are torn out, the area will be paved and used for a commuter student parking lot.

"We have a lack of convenient parking," said Dr. Pauline Fox, vice president for administration.

Fox said another lot closer to Academic Hall should be a plus for students. Parking has long been a complaint of both students and residents in the neighborhoods around the university campus. Students want parking closer to their classroom buildings instead of on the perimeter. Residents dislike the students parking along city streets and blocking driveways.

"We are trying to make enough parking available for everyone," Fox said. Lots on the north side of campus "are often a distance from where the students have classes," she said.

The additional parking lot has been part of the university's plan to address needs. Upgrades to a shuttle system should also help alleviate parking woes, Fox said.

The university applied for $2.5 million in grants from MoDOT to fund capital improvements related to a shuttle system. A shuttle service currently runs from the campus' perimeter lots and frequently causes traffic delays at North Henderson, Normal, Sprigg and New Madrid streets.

Under the new plan, "students should be able to find a parking space quickly and then be able to get to class on time," Fox said.

That new plan includes creating a road on campus solely for use by the shuttles. The transitway would keep the shuttles from driving on city streets and would help take students to classroom buildings on campus.

The construction of the first phase of the transitway will begin this year, Fox said. Shuttles will make more rounds, which could help alleviate parking traffic.

The university typically oversells the spaces in its commuter lots but the increase in parking requests continues to rise. The university uses a formula of 1.4 decals per parking space available to determine how many parking decals are available.

In February, there were 563 preferred commuter parking spaces available on campus and 789 students with preferred parking decals. There were 1,594 requests for the decals, which means another 575 parking spaces are needed to accommodate students.

Without factoring in increasing student enrollment or the needs for additional faculty, staff and visitor parking, the university simply isn't able to handle all its present parking needs, University President Kenneth Dobbins said.