By Jackie Todd, Office of Media Relations
Parking permit fees for faculty, staff and students on Clemson’s main campus will rise effective Aug. 16.
Parking permit fees are tied to a salary tier system. Employees with higher salaries pay more for parking permits. The Aug. 16 fee increase follows the same tier system and ranges from a 33-cent increase per paycheck to a $2.08 increase per paycheck for those on the highest tier. Another tier has also been added for top wage earners. Those who earn more than $90,000 annually will see the highest increase.
But not everyone will pay more for parking.
“Those whose annual salaries are $30,000 or less will see no fee increase,” said Dan Hofmann, director of Parking and Transportation Services.
The increase is the first for faculty and staff in more than a decade and the first for students since 2009 according to Hofmann.
“The last time faculty and staff saw parking permit prices go up was 2003,” he said. “We’ve invested in new parking technologies and made major improvements to improve our parking infrastructure since then.”
Some of the most recent improvements cited include the addition of “visitor-friendly” solar powered multi-space parking meters that provide dedicated visitor spaces. In the past, visitors were permitted to park in employee spaces for free, but are now required to use the dedicated visitor spots.
Other improvements include the addition of the new E-21 employee parking lot, an eco-friendly 200-space lot near the Cherry and Perimeter roads intersection. The heavily used Sikes and Sirrine employee parking lots were renovated and the Brooks Center parking lot was redesigned, adding 50 spaces. A number of main campus parking lots now boast LED lighting, which Hofmann said supports the sustainability goals of the university, saves money and enhances safety. Parking lot “loops” have also been installed in 10 student commuter lots allowing students to access parking space availability for more than 4,200 spaces through their smartphones using the my.Clemson app. Hofmann hopes to expand this to employee lots in the future.
Hofmann is adding more employee parking spaces to the main campus.
“We’re about to sign a lease with Holy Trinity Church, which will give us up to 40 additional employee spaces in the church’s lot, right across the street from Mell Hall. And the temporary gravel area right outside of Clemson House is currently being repaved, so that will open up additional employee spaces,” he said.
Future plans include the creation of over 1,000 parking spaces for the Douthit Hills project as well as the creation of two satellite parking lots. Hofmann said that a 650-space lot on the east side of campus and a 188-space lot on the west side is still in the beginning stages, but once completed, will be accessible to faculty, staff and students.
The increase was approved by Clemson’s Administrative Council and presented to the faculty and staff senates as well and the university’s undergraduate and graduate student governments.
“We know that increases are not popular, but most employees will pay an additional average of 50 cents per paycheck,” he said. “It’s a small price to pay for the magnitude of improvements that we are implementing on campus.“
