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Measuring up' parking at the Hall

If the search for parking on campus does not draw the ire of Seton Hall students, squeezing into tight spaces and crowded lots usually does.

The Setonian visited area universities to measure parking space sizes and compare them with Seton Hall to see if the frequent student complaints about spot sizes are justified.

Measurements were first taken at lots around the Hall, starting with the lot near Xavier Hall.

Most spots measured at 8 feet 4 inches wide.

But the spaces in the F-Lot, which wraps around the Rec Center, are roughly 9 feet 7 inches wide.

Ann Szipszky, parking services manager, said any increase in width would mean the possible elimination of some spots.

"For example, we may lose a spot at the end of each row," Szipszky said. "Ours (parking spaces) are obviously not the biggest ones. We're landlocked."

Spaces in the parking deck are about 7 feet 11 inches. The Setonian measured all spots across their painted lines, starting and ending at the outside-end of each line.

Other spaces measured at Seton Hall include the lots near Duffy Hall (9 feet 4 inches wide), the lot near the front gate next to Cabrini Hall (also 8 feet 4 inches) and the spaces behind Boland Hall (about 8 feet 10 inches). The reserved spaces on the Green in front of Mooney Hall were wider at 10 feet 10.5 inches.

Kean University in Union offered comparably-sized spaces. In the Kean Hall lot, spots measured about 8 feet 6 inches wide.

Another lot nearby, the Willis Hall lot, had spaces with the exact same measurements. Spots were nearly the same size – within an inch – in another lot labeled the Bruce lot.

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Most students at Montclair State University park in the Red Hawk on-campus parking deck, which features a majority of compact car spaces at just 7 feet 11 inches wide. For comparison, the full-time employee lot spaces are 8 feet 9.5 inches wide.

At Drew University in Madison, spaces in two different student lots were each 9 feet 3.5 inches wide.

These parking lots were smaller overall in size and scattered around the campus, which is located amid trees and open land on the university's grounds.

Judith Rosenbaum, administrative assistant with the Department of Public Safety at Drew, said Madison municipal codes determine parking space sizing.

"(I'm) not sure what the size is and no one here seems to know since we have had turnovers in our Facilities Department since the establishment of parking lots on campus," Rosenbaum said, adding the university has about 800 spaces on campus.

Nearby at Fairleigh Dickinson University's Florham Park campus, spaces are wider. One lot near a campus residence hall features spaces just over 10 feet in total width.

Another lot near the campus entrance – where several signs direct motorists – has spots at 10 feet 9.5 inches wide.

A commuter and visitor lot was also measured with spaces at 9 feet 7 inches wide.

Szipszky commented on the larger width of spaces at both Drew and Fairleigh Dickinson.

"Drew and FDU are working with larger pieces of land," Szipszky said.

The Setonian reported on Sept. 23, 2009, that Parking Services estimates there are 2,500 spaces on the Seton Hall campus.

According to ecode360.com, a website for municipal codes, South Orange Village dictates that "stalls for all required off-street parking spaces shall be not less than nine feet wide."

Editor's note: The Setonian attempted to reach Facilities administrators at all schools featured in this article, including Seton Hall. Most did not reply by press time.

Any forthcoming comments from administrators will be featured in next week's edition of The Setonian and online at thesetonian.com.

Brian Wisowaty can be reached at brian.wisowaty@student.shu.edu.

Jessica Sutcliffe can be reached at jessica.sutcliffe@student.shu.edu.


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