CHICO -- It's official: Besides providing education to about 12,000 students, the Chico Unified School District is going to be peddling parking places to 285 individuals.
Wednesday, the CUSD board of trustees, on a split vote, approved a plan to go into the parking business on a lot located at West Sacramento Avenue and Warner Street.
Up until this last school year, the lot — which is on the western end of the Chico High School campus — has been leased to Chico State University as a facility.
That lease subsidized the costs incurred by CUSD for use of the university stadium for the Almond Bowl and other activities, and brought in a few thousand dollars to the district as well.
In March, the CUSD board directed Jan Combes, assistant superintendent for business, to end the lease and look into the possibility of turning the so-called "Lot A" into a for-profit operation for the district.
Wednesday, she presented a plan to rent specific identified parking spaces to individuals for $500 for a year and $300 for a semester.
Admitting that the parking price is not cheap, Combes said they are competitive and even cheaper than the more than $700 charged by the city of Chico for a guaranteed parking place. If all of the spaces are rented, that would result in a gross annual revenue of $142,500, with the estimated costs of setting up the lot pegged at $7,775.