Ease of Parking Spurs New Use of $5 Million Lot

By C. Harold Pierce

A vacant lot across from campus purchased last year for $5 million to create more parking for faculty members will instead be used for construction workers, district officials said Monday.

“It will eventually be a surface parking lot … but there’s a high need of equipment, materials and worker parking, so we’re still evaluating our need in terms of parking,” Carri Matsumoto, assistant vice chancellor of facility planning and district construction and support services said.

A date has not been set for when the property will be designated for staff use, Matsumoto said, but it will likely come after Dunlap Hall renovations and infrastructure improvements are completed in about three years.

Administrators initially purchased the lot with the goal of creating about 150 faculty stalls starting this fall, Vice President of Administrative Services Michael Collins told the el Don last August.

“Right now, there’s not a parking demand issue,” said Matsumoto, adding that moving construction equipment offsite frees up parking on the main campus for students.

Rancho Santiago Community College District finalized the purchase of the property, located at the corner of 17th and Bristol streets, from Danforth Holdings this year for $1.4 million above fair market value using funds from Measure E, a $337 million voter-approved tax measure.