The Department of Public Safety will soon stop writing tickets for drivers who park overnight in the large lot across from Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, at least on some days, the department’s director said.
The lot lies between Alder and Kincaid Streets along East 14th Avenue. Currently, it is only open to cars without permits between 9 p.m. and midnight, and is reserved for University faculty and staff during the school day.
However, DPS Director Doug Tripp said DPS will stop writing tickets to students parked there on at least some days from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The change will come in “a couple to three weeks,” Tripp said Tuesday.
Tripp said DPS decided to open the lot to parking to ensure students are safe when they study overnight at the Knight Library. The East 14th Avenue lot, officially designated Lot 16A by DPS, is the closest large parking lot to the library.
“Safety has taken precedence over any parking regulations for that lot,” Tripp said.
Tripp made the decision after a meeting between University administrators and ASUO office-holders about the subject on Monday, which he described as “very productive.”
“We lost sight of what the real issue was,” Tripp said. “That’s safety and ready access to campus.”
Safety was also the reason DPS cited when it first closed the lot earlier in the school year, citing concern for the safety of students who parked there during the night while nearby bars were open.
“We didn’t feel it was a good place for students — good, clean, sober students — to be parking and then, at 2 in the morning, having to come out after bars close and having to deal with people who were drunk and obnoxious and misbehaving,” DPS Capt. Herb Horner said in April to explain the decision. “We didn’t think it was a good fit.”
Horner also cited concerns that overnight parking would make the lot more difficult to sweep, which DPS has to do weekly because those traveling through from bars leave behind debris.
However, the choice to end overnight parking in Lot 16A was met with a degree of anger from students, especially within the ASUO, during whose election in April parking became a major issue. That, eventually, led to the meeting on Monday, which included ASUO President Emma Kallaway, members of her staff, and ASUO senators, as well as administrators from the Departments of Student Affairs and of Finance and Administration.
Before the change in policy regarding Lot 16A becomes official, Tripp said DPS needs to get more information to ensure there are no “unintended consequences.”
Tripp said DPS must still consult library officials and devise a way to allow the lot to be cleaned. It is also not yet clear on which days the lot will be open.
DPS will not require those using the lot to prove they are students or using the library. “Our objective here is to make this as simple as possible,” he said.
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