If campus parking seems a little intimidating, welcome to the club.
Maps of campus parking areas are available at the Department of Public Safety, but to a lot of students, it’s just not enough.
However; with the fees and fines associated with improperly parking, it may not be a bad idea to get acquainted with all campus parking rules and regulations.
First off, the argument could be made that the parking situation is not student-friendly. For example, the most campus-accessible parking is only available for those with faculty/staff parking permits.
In addition, of the total 3,500 permit spots, only half are accessible to students. Cars with faculty/staff permits are also allowed to park in these spots.
Add to this that, on average, 7,000 permits are sold to students, faculty and staff every year. That means only half of the people buying permits are guaranteed a spot.
Fees for citations run from $15 to $300. And don’t think that the fees will go away if left unpaid.
If they’re not paid, diplomas can be withheld and cars can be booted. The fee for getting a car booted is an additional $40.
It is possible to petition these tickets, but make sure the petition is submitted within 10 days of the citation.
About two-thirds of the petitions received are reduced or approved, DPS Parking and Transportation Manager Rand Stamm said, and only about one-third of petitions are denied.
“It’s usually on a very individualized basis,” he said.
The most common citations disbursed are for overtime parking at street meters and failure to display a valid parking permit, Stamm said.
Although most of the tickets issued do eventually get paid, most are not paid in a timely manner.
Over the years, many people — including this paper — have argued that a parking structure would solve everything, but it doesn’t seem to be a solution that is easily implemented.
Although a parking structure is usually discussed every two or three years by the University, the last time one neared being built was in 1988.
The structure would have added about 300 spaces to the current total, DPS Parking and Transportation Manager Rand Stamm said.
Stamm said that regular deterrents to a structure are money and land use regulations.
In 1988, construction was halted because of lack of support, he said.
“When it came down to it, no one would support it. There was no backing from faculty, students or staff, and the neighbors really didn’t want it,” he said.
The money for that particular project came from bonds which are not paid back yet. Part of the money was used to construct the same amount of spaces that the structure would have provided.
“We’ll probably be paying those back for the next 15 or so years,” Stamm said.