About a dozen Eastern employees attended an open forum Monday on the proposed parking revisions.

Patricia Poulter, professor and chair of the Department of Student Teaching and Clinical Experiences, said many people would probably respond to the proposed revisions through e-mail.

Comments can be sent to [email protected]. There is an additional forum from 3 to 4 p.m. today in Buzzard Hall, Room 1501.

Eastern is exploring revisions including raising parking rates during the next four years, using a zone parking system and making parking a fixture within the natural plan.

Parking rates for the next four school years would be doubled for faculty, staff and upperclassmen from $50 to $100 per year and for administrative parking permits from $125 to $250 per year.

Underclassmen passes will increase from the current $150 to $200 in 2012-13.

In an Oct. 30 campus wide e-mail, President Bill Perry said parking fees generate $650,000 annually, of which $225,000 is used to pay salaries for the University Police Department and for the enforcement of parking regulations. The other $425,000 is used for maintenance, repair and occasionally building new lots.

Gary Reed, director of facilities, planning and management, said at the forum that the proposed increases still would not keep up with the maintenance of the lots.

The increases would generate an additional $250,000 a year once completely enacted.

When it came to zone parking, Ryan Siegel, campus energy and sustainability coordinator, questioned whether issuing parking permits would be limited because parking lots only have so many spaces.

“I would say with confidence that is not going to happen,” Poulter said.

The university would have to use a formula to decide how many permits would be issued for a zone. She was unsure of what formula the university would use, she added.

Poulter said she was not sure whether the zoned parking would just allow parking in one lot, but she said maybe two lots would be designated for permits.

While Doudna was under renovations, Poulter and other staffers had to drive across campus because they had to bring multiple instruments with them to class.

Incorporating parking into the Campus Master Plan is also a proposal. Reed said the current master plan was completed in 1999 and was revised in 2002, but has not been updated since then.

Other plans being considered include adding additional motorcycle parking, installing additional lighting in parking lots and pathways, installing security cameras in and near parking lots, and developing an educational campaign to encourage walking and cycling.

Matt Hopf can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].