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Elks Lodge offers an alternative to pricy parking

As advertized by the sign in their parking lot, the Elks Lodge on Nutley is now selling parking passes to students for $135. Elks Lodge parking is a private enterprise that Madison is not involved in and students are advised to contact Elks Lodge representative Steven Taylor at 703-625-8824 in order to purchase a permit. The spots are being sold for $65 less than the $200 price mandated by FCPS.

“Last year we entered into a lease agreement with the Elks Lodge,” James Tracy, the member of Security dubbed “the parking guy,” said. In light of the school board decision to raise the price of parking passes from $150 to $200, he added, Madison believed “there would be less of a demand for parking passes because of the increase in price.” The decision not to lease the Elks Lodge parking lot stemmed from a presumption that there would be no need.

This prediction may be correct because, despite the loss of the Elks Lodge parking lot, the number of students on the waiting list for parking permits is less than last year. “We currently have six people on the waiting list. At one point last year, we had between 20 and 25,” Tracy said. When students lose their permits for administrative reasons, which according to Tracy happens on a “regular basis,” their spots are given to students on the waiting list. Students are put on the list in the order that they apply for a permit, but seniors are given automatic priority.

An increase of cars on James Madison Drive and Windover Avenue is also evidence that many students just aren’t willing to pay such a large sum of money for a permit. “Clearly, what we’ve seen is that the elasticity of demand for parking spots is under $200,” Principal Mark Merrell said.

However, several of the 13 students who have already purchased Elks Lodge passes do not cite the cost of passes as their incentive for going to Elks Lodge.

“This is the only lot available,” David Sickmen (’10) said. Sickmen chose to buy a pass through the Elks Lodge instead of adding his name to the Madison waiting list.

Tracy anticipates that the Elks Lodge decision to sell passes will not affect the school. “There are only 41 spaces in the Elks Lodge, and we are already sold out and have a waiting list, so I don’t see it impacting us at all,” he said.

The Elks Lodge plans to sell passes in future years as well. “If you are not a senior, you can reserve spots for next year,” Taylor said. He revealed that the cost might rise to $150 dollars for the 2010-2011 school year, but would not exceed this amount.

Why did the Elks Lodge only recently begin to sell passes? Taylor affirms that, at the beginning of this year, the communication between Madison and the Elks Lodge was poor. “[The Madison authorities] said students’ cars would be towed if they parked in the lot before anything was official,” Taylor said. After the Elks Lodge discovered what was going on, they decided to make it known that their lot was available for student parking.

The Elks Lodge parking spots are assigned, which is refreshing for some students who are frustrated with Madison’s “free-for-all” parking policy. “It’s just really complicated because I go to an Academy,” Alison Gale (’10) said. “One day I had to drive around the entire school to find a spot.”

Tracy, on the other hand, vouches that “there has never been a day when we went out and could not find a free spot.” He added, “We try to go out every day and find people who do not have permits and there is a $25 fine for the first offense.”

The only restriction to Elks Lodge permit holders is that they must call if their car is going to be in the lot past 7:45 p.m. Taylor said, “We will call your parents to make sure you are where you are supposed to be.”

By Rachel Hecht