A proposed campus parking-lot expansion could add 30 or more spaces while eliminating an outdoor basketball court, Student Senate President Cliff Maloney has said.

The expansion, proposed last semester, would nearly double the upper townhouse lot by expanding the paved area into woods and a basketball court along Student Union Drive.

“We have such a demand for parking,” Maloney said. “There were no objections. Everyone agreed.”

The senate proposal would maintain a row of trees separating the lot from Student Union Drive, but would likely require paving over the asphalt basketball court.

Maloney said parking has long been students’ No. 1 complaint to senators – while administrators have long maintained there are enough spaces on campus, some students have sought parking closer to the campus center.

Maloney said the senate’s Student Affairs Committee is analyzing parking campuswide to develop additional lot-expansion ideas.

The proposed expansion, like the present 44-space lot serving upper townhouses, would likely be reserved for upperclassmen, Maloney said.

Not apparent in the proposal, however, is how administrators would respond to freshmen parking illegally in the lot – a question Maloney said has been common in senate.

While the proposal makes plain the lot’s location and size, Physical Plant grounds director Robert Blaschak said the plan is still in development.

“We’re kind of in exploratory mode right now,” Blaschak said. “We’ve had the existing site surveyed.”

Blaschak said administrators haven’t yet guaranteed a location, and an October deadline – requested in Maloney’s proposal – isn’t set in stone.