After a debate lasting almost two-and-a-half hours, Student Senate voted, 10-12-3, against a resolution to oppose a plan that would turn the Putnam Hall parking lot into a park.

With the support of 11 fellow students, Putnam Hall Council President Jordan Benedict and Putnam RA Eric Highlander voiced their concerns regarding the issue.

“We have wanted a fire pit outside our hall for some time, but not behind trees and in a different location,” Benedict said after reading a letter to Senate in opposition to the plan.

Sean Hartnett, geography department representative to University Senate’s Physical Plant Planning Committee and creator of the plan, made a presentation to Senate outlining what he called a proposal to better utilize the space on campus by upgrading its level of land use.

Vice Chancellor Andy Soll, who attended the entire four-hour meeting, said despite the assumptions of many senators, neither the committee nor the administration has formed an opinion on the project one way or the other.

“We are not endorsing it, but not against it,” he said. “We have a concept for creating a more natural area but not a definite design.”

At this point, Soll said, the university still is working with an engineer in planning a redevelopment of Garfield Avenue in conjunction with the completion of the Chippewa Riverbank Stabilization Project.

“There is nothing definite the university is moving forward with,” he said.

Both Soll and Hartnett agreed one of the most important issues that would have to be resolved is that of parking if the plan becomes a reality.

Under Hartnett’s plan, the 37 “R” spots would be moved to the Water Street lot – an area, he said, that is underutilized, with “over 100 spots open at any given time.”

Senator Avril Flaten said that as an off-campus student who passes the Water Street lot regularly, she has seen the lot completely full at times during the day, adding many off-campus students are not on campus throughout the entire day.

Another concern senators raised during the discussion was that of safety if the parking spots were to be moved to the Water Street lot.

“It’s not the distance of the walk (across the footbridge), but the safety of the walk,” said Vice President Emily Ascher, adding that providing a place for students to “play” near the river would increase the dangers.