A ROOM WITH A VIEW BLIGHTED BY PARKING LOT.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

MOORPARK - One of the reasons Rob Marlow bought his home on University Drive was for its placid view of the countryside from the back yard, but Marlow said he'll move if the vacant field becomes a permanent parking lot for Moorpark College students.

As recently as three or four months ago, Marlow said, he could watch cows grazing in the field. This week, however, the same three acres near Collins and University drives were used as an overflow parking site to accommodate the school's record number of students.

``They took out the grass and the brush and painted white lines in the dirt,'' said Marlow, who has lived in the college neighborhood for 11 years. ``From my balcony it looks like a drive-in movie or junk yard. The radios are blasting, the car alarms around going off, kids are getting into arguments.

``Besides being an eyesore, now I have no privacy from any of the rooms upstairs,'' he said.

College officials say they plan to allow parking in that area for only the first month of classes; demand typically falls off after students have bought books, taken care of paperwork and settled into their routine.

Officials can't say for sure whether the lot will eventually become permanent, but admit that parking will continue to be a problem.

``It all depends on the college's growth, but if we continue to grow we'll have to have that lot,'' college spokeswoman Jeanne Bailey said. ``It's pretty hard to imagine us not needing this in the future.''

The college has 3,000 to 4,000 parking spaces on campus to accommodate the student body, which this year is near an all-time high of 13,500.

Pat Kistler, spokeswoman for the Ventura College Community District, said there is no rule that regulates the student-to-parking ratio on campuses.

``Statewide, there are 107 community colleges with 2 million students,'' Kistler said. ``Before 2010, we expect enrollment will increase by 500,000 to 700,000 students. Community colleges are working to alleviate overcrowding with more facilities and even things like online instruction. It's a race, and colleges are aware of it and working to find solutions.''

Bailey said in recent years the college built two new parking lots - one near the hockey field and the other below the football field.

Last semester the college allowed parking on the soccer field and on perimeter roads that are usually off limits. The college also offers discounted car-pool parking passes and pays $10,000 to VISTA, the local public transit system, to encourage more students to take the bus to school.

``The college really exhausted all other efforts first and, frankly, it wasn't enough,'' Bailey said.

Moorpark College leases the site it uses for overflow parking from Messenger Investment Co. in Irvine. The college indicated it is negotiating to swap for this property with another parcel the school owns that is adjacent to the campus but not suitable for use as a parking lot because it is not flat.

In the interim, the college gained permission from Messenger Investment to remove the grass and spray a substance called soil cement preparatory to painting stripes on the dirt to mark parking slots.

Bailey said college President James Walker notified the executive board of the neighborhood's Homeowners Association of his plans to convert the empty land into a temporary parking lot on April 28. On Tuesday night he attended a meeting with the school's neighbors to discuss modifications such as putting in a windbreak, preventing cars from parking next to the block wall and limiting hours of the lot's use to daytime. Walker did not return telephone calls for comment.

``Walker's just trying to appease us,'' Moorpark resident Marlow countered, `` but one day he's going to turn this into a massive parking lot with paving, lighting and the whole works. We've got to stop this now.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Moorpark College students head for the overflow parking site Thursday. The campus has 3,000 to 4,000 parking spaces to accommodate the student body.

(2) A once rustic view of the countryside from the home of Moorpark residents Rob and Dawn Marlow is now an unsightly overflow parking lot for Moorpark College, which leases the site from a third party.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News