Campuses Put Empty Parking Lots to Work

Driven to raise money for everything from scholarships to landscaping, Santiago Canyon College in Orange is about to try a new tack: turning a parking area into a weekend used car lot.

Santiago Canyon is the latest but not the last public campus to open its doors to private car sellers in the quest for money. CarFaire, the company that manages the used car lot, now plans a push into Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The appeal is obvious. Car owners get a central spot that draws customers, the safety of selling away from their homes and the saving of not having to advertise. The customers can buy directly from owners without traveling from house to house. The college sacrifices a few parking spots that are usually empty on weekends and gets a portion of the money raised, to use any way it sees fit.

“It’s nice to have those discretionary dollars and all that flexibility,” said Patti Cole, director of Santiago Canyon’s fund-raising foundation. “You’re able to buy a computer if it’s needed over here, or bring in a guest lecturer if that’s needed over there.”

The push is particularly strong at community colleges, which so far haven’t gotten the big funding increases seen in other public schools and colleges, though they appear to be in line for higher increases this year.

“Historically, community colleges have been underfunded,” said Beth Mueller, budget manager at Irvine Valley College, which also has a weekend car lot. “So they need to come up with innovative ideas to generate additional funds.”

The car idea is catching on. Several months ago, College of the Canyons in the Santa Clarita Valley began renting part of its sea of asphalt to a local businessman who opens it to car sellers every weekend.

“When he started, there were about 15 to 20 cars on the lot,” said John McElwain, assistant director of public relations. “Recently I drove by there, and there were about 85.”

Glendale Community College occasionally rents a lot to a similar company.

CarFaire President Bill Sembrat said his company is “talking to several other community colleges, not just in California, but other states, and also high schools.”

The business also operates sites in Santa Cruz, Alameda and San Joaquin counties. An established site usually will have 100 to 200 cars, attracting 1,000 to 1,500 people over a weekend, Sembrat said.

The $35 fees paid by the owners are good until their cars sell, and there are no commissions. More established sites fetch higher fees. The schools said they receive a quarter of the space fees.

And cars are not the only moneymaker. Many community colleges, including Glendale, Pasadena City College and Los Angeles Harbor College, hold flea markets.

Pasadena makes about $150,000 per year on the venture, which it uses for student scholarships and other student services, said Stephen Johnson, assistant dean of student affairs. The Harbor swap meet brings in as much as $200,000 yearly, said interim President Frank Quiambao.

At Irvine Valley College, where weekend car sales are a going concern, public information officer Joyce Kirk is a satisfied customer--and a merchant. Kirk’s family has bought two cars and sold one at the events.

“In selling our car, we didn’t feel comfortable having people come to our home with cash,” she said. With CarFaire, she met people at the college, negotiated and sealed the deals at a bank. “It worked very well.”

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Times staff writer Jill Leovy contributed to this story.