The Olympian

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Campus

After several meetings with Kitsap Community Resources, Olympic College may give community members a hand up while at the same time working to solve parking problems through a transitional housing service partnership.
The houses between 13th and 15th streets and Warren and Broadway avenues are in just one of the lots within the college's predicted comprehensive expansion and have only recently been targeted on the reissued 10-year capital projects plan.
A new designated student parking area is scheduled to take the place of the homes in question after the project was approved in 2005.
Student parking is not an old issue, and as the college slowly acquires more full-time equivalents it boosts the current headcount to 6946, 207 more than last spring according to the latest enrollment reports.
Although the majority of students attend classes on the Bremerton campus, parking issues at OC Poulsbo have recently come to the attention of those in administration and may require future construction as the campus expands its programs.
"There is a demand for parking we are not meeting," said Barbara Martin, vice president of Administrative Services.
Prior to this newly slated project, OC had looked at constructing a parking garage on Broadway using the natural slope in the area.
After the OC Board of Trustees examined traffic patterns in the area and the projected cost, the project was deemed too expensive and a more difficult task than previously believed, leaving the idea to be scrapped in favor of a series of parking lots around the perimeter of the campus.
Either way, student complaints about parking issues continue to rise.
Plans to purchase the properties from their private owners have been set in motion, but because the college has chosen to buy up properties one at a time, there will be a significant amount of time, a possible excess of two years before all properties can be accounted for and demolition can begin.
Faced with the decision on what to do with the dormant homes during this time, OC has entered into talks with KCR to potentially lease purchased lots to house families and individuals in the organization's transitional housing program, which would allow low-income families without homes to take up residence as they become financially stable.
"What a waste it would be to let those lots sit there," said KCR Executive Director Larry Eyer. "(This is) a smart and creative move by the college."
After already starting up and managing transitional housing programs elsewhere in the area, KCR is confident that the program will work.
"We work with the families, we know them. It's a temporary partnership, the family and us," said Eyer. "They know this isn't permanent housing but it's a good use of that community resource."
Although there is no official agreement yet, OC is currently reviewing sample contracts and drafting a version that would allow the college to temporarily hand the responsibility of property management over to KCR. Because OC would not assume responsibility for routine upkeep and maintenance, according to Barbara Martin, this agreement would not cost the college any money.
"We don't have an agreement yet, but we are working on what the details of that agreement might look like and exploring if we could make this work," said Martin. "If we can do some public good while we do this, that's excellent."

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