Over forty years have gone by without any problems with parking at the West Campus lot, more commonly referred to as the Valley Forge lot.
At least until now.
Before winter break, the Radnor Township solicitor ordered Eastern to cease all parking on the recently purchased land.
However, on Feb. 4, an email was sent by Student Development informing students they could now resume parking in the West Campus lot until Eastern’s appeal is heard on Feb. 17.
Confusing? Yes. Inconvenient? Certainly. Do we have a choice? Not really.
Initially, a newsletter was sent out to students informing them of the lot’s closure in which Vice President for Student Development, Bettie Ann Brigham, said, “You should know that parking has been permitted on that land at least since the early 1970’s, so if you are confused about this enforcement of an ordinance that has not been enforced there before, you are not alone. We, in fact, believed that the purchase of that land would increase parking stability and reliability for our students, rather than remove it altogether.”
Eastern seems to be doing everything in its power to rectify the situation. “We have placed the matter with our lawyers who will try their best to re-secure the use of the land for parking purposes,” Brigham said.
Eastern students were also given the option of a refund for West Campus parking permits provided they remove their car from campus for the remainder of the semester.