by Beth Riner, Messenger Staff Writer

At the Sewanee Community Council’s first meeting of this academic year, newly elected Vice-Chancellor Rob Pearigen remarked that parking was an issue more than a decade ago when he first served on the council.

It remained a hot topic at the council’s Sept. 25 meeting along with the campus master plan, an employee apartment community, and a proposed senior living facility.

Acting Provost Scott Wilson told council members that the university had recently begun to enforce parking restrictions in bike lanes. These restrictions had been suspended during Covid.

“From a safety standpoint, it’s much better,” Wilson said, noting that while there had been no pushback from students over the change, elderly community members who are less mobile had voiced concerns.

Short-term procedures to alleviate parking woes include handicapped parking on Georgia Avenue, dedicated night spaces for events, and use of motor pool and electric vehicles to transport people for church events, Wilson said. Additionally, blue parking spaces are open to everyone after 5 p.m.

Council Member Michael Payne was unhappy with the sea of yellow restricted spaces.

“It’s not a good look — a lot of yellow,” he said. “It’s not very Sewanee like, in my view.”

Council members recommended more positive parking signage and maps for major events showing where parking is allowed.

Sewanee resident Brooks Egerton also pointed out that the parking directions on the University’s webpage were unclear and perhaps unfair to enforce because of the confusion.

He said that the website states that “visitors are welcome to park in any available spot designated as Visitor or spots lined in blue.”

Egerton said, “At the parking lots themselves, there are no signs that explain the blue lines or otherwise tell you where you cannot park.”

He added that actual university parking policy states that only vehicles with a purple staff parking sticker may park in blue-lined spaces.

“Can you imagine how you’d feel if you were a prospective faculty member or prospective student or parent and had an encounter with a police officer over a parking space that you had a very good reason to believe was open for use?” he asked.

Vice-Chancellor Pearigen agreed and promised to work towards making messages “consistent, explicable, and fair.”

“It’s something we’ve needed to remedy for years,” he acknowledged.

Wilson told the council that “things are basically paused” with the campus master plan while the university revisits and completes strategic planning.

“Dormitories and residential life for our students are of paramount importance to us,” Wilson said.

Vice President for Economic Development and Community Relations David Shipps briefly updated the council on Sewanee Village Ventures’ efforts to help university employees secure housing on campus.

He said that the five newly constructed single-family spec homes all went under contract within 20 minutes of going up for sale and have all since closed.

“It can be problematic not having places on campus for employees to live,” Shipps said.

Plans are now underway to build a 48-unit apartment community on a 6.5-acre leasehold off Highway 41A between Alabama and Kennerly Road. Six L-shaped buildings will contain eight units, including two two-bedrooms, two studios, and four one-bedrooms. Parking will accommodate 60 cars.

“What it’s going to look like is still underway,” Shipps said. “There is no such thing as an apartment complex in Sewanee — it’s an apartment community.”

He assured the council that the development would have a Sewanee aesthetic.

University of the South alum George Elliott of Birmingham, who has served on the university’s board of trustees, briefed the council on Arcadia’s proposed senior living facility.

“Being part of the community is very important—that it’s walkable to the village,” he said, adding that they are exploring a 13.2-acre site near St. Mark’s Community Center to build both independent living cottages with one to two bedrooms and an assisted living building, which would include memory care.

“There will be buy-in models and rentals,” he said, noting that pricing needs to match the local community.

“We want to make it reflective of the entire community,” he said.

He mentioned that Blakeford at Green Hills, a senior housing community in Nashville, is interested in running the Sewanee facility.

Several council members said that physicians and quality healthcare in the area were also concerns for retirees and potential residents.

Noting that more floats were needed in the annual Sewanee Fourth of July Parade, Councilman John Solomon proposed that the council have a float next year and offered to head up the project.

“It’s a good project for the community, and it’s something fun to do,” he said.

Community member Roger Speer spoke about the need to refurbish the Woodlands Playground, which has fallen into disrepair. He said seminarians are willing to do sweat equity and will be requesting $5,000 in community funding.