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the
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UCCS weekly newspaper
Monday, September 3, 2012 Vol. 37, Iss. 2
Good Neighbors encourages students to respect residential parking Eleanor Skelton eskelton@uccs.edu
“I parked at Danville Park and would then hop on my bike to get to class,” said Andrew Ibarra, a business major who transferred to UCCS this last spring from University of Northern Colorado. “Parking passes were already sold out by the time I was enrolled, so that’s why I started parking in the neighborhoods across
Relatively easy access, reduced waiting time and all for free. What college student on a tight schedule and budget wouldn’t want to park in a place like that? Just one problem, though – these preferred parking spots are in the middle of a residential area. The topic of parking at University students, UCCS often leads to ferstaff and faculty have vent discusalways parked in the sions and is neighborhood across debated by both freshthe street; it has only men and upreally become an issue perclassmen in the past year or two. of all ages and backgrounds. Even some faculty and staff members, campus,” Ibarra said. “I live on the east side whose parking passes cost of UCCS, so it felt like more than the permits available for students, park a waste of time to pass in the neighborhoods in- UCCS in order to park in stead of on the main cam- Four Diamonds and then shuttle back up.” Ibarra pus. To alleviate the conflict said that he saves 30 minbetween the residents liv- utes a day between the ing near campus and the roundtrip commute and people who park on resi- not having to wait for the dential streets, Brad Bayer, shuttle. Christy Asay, a junior executive director of Student Life and Leadership; double majoring in chemHomer Wesley, vice chan- istry and biology, excellor for Student Success pressed similar concerns. and Enrollment Manage- “Now the shuttle service ment; and Jim Spice, di- is even worse with [the] rector of Public Safety, influx of new freshmen,” are sponsoring a program Asay said. “There are huge lines called Good Neighbors. just to get on the shuttle, Chancellor Pam Shockand I really don’t have the ley-Zalabak supported Good Neighbors in a press time to wait 30 minutes to release Aug. 24, request- an hour to get a ride to my ing that students park in car. I would much rather Four Diamonds and that just walk a bit.” Likewise, Aaron Felten“those who park on city berger, a junior biology streets should park at least major emphasizing in pre[five] feet from the edges of residential driveways, dentistry, said that he has mail boxes, fire hydrants, parked in the neighborand crosswalks, park on hoods for the past year and the right side of the street a half. “[It] is much closer within 12 inches of the to school, I enjoy the walk curb, observe no park- and [I] can usually find a ing and handicap parking parking spot quickly.” In years past, students zones, [and] not park on with financial hardships private property.” The reasons given for who were unable to purwhy students decide to chase HUB permits or who park in the neighborhoods simply preferred to park across Austin Bluffs Bou- off campus would leave levard vary but have some their vehicles in the Cragmor Christian Reformed common themes.
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Church’s lot. Yet, in December 2010, the church notified UCCS administrators that they could no longer allow UCCS students to use their facilities due to liability concerns. The church parking lot contained about 200 spaces, and the change in policy and UCCS Public Safety’s attempts to redirect students to the Four Diamonds lots just west of the main campus resulted in the majority of those students parking on the streets around the church, creating more tension between residents and students. Adam Garvert, the father of young children in a nearby neighborhood, understands the students’ situation and perspective because he attended college himself not long ago. Still, the cars often parked in front of his home prevent him from using his work trailer, he said. He has tried to communicate this through posting orange signs on the trees in his front yard, but his requests are generally ignored. One of the neighborhood’s residents, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she has difficulty backing out of her driveway and retrieving mail due to at least four cars parked between her house and her next-door neighbor. She also recounted the time two years ago when her husband was ill and a pickup truck parked outside their home blocked their driveway. “We couldn’t have gotten out if we had needed to,” she said. Still, she expressed hope for a better relationship in the future between the university and the residential community. Parties hosted many nights during the week by college students renting houses in the area, as well as trespassing violations and littering, only hinder
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Inside this
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Photo by Nick Burns
Students, staff and faculty continue to park in residential areas. the situation, residents say. “University students, staff and faculty have always parked in the neighborhood across the street; it has only really become an issue in the past year or two,” said UCCS Chief of Police Jim Spice. “That is when we really started seeing a lot of the complaints.” Spice pointed out other issues in the residential area. “City parking laws are being violated over there, like parking within five feet of a fire hydrant [or] parking within 30 feet of an intersection,” which will result not only in tickets from campus police but in city tickets too, he said. Spice also seeks to remind students that the new parking lot in Four Diamonds, Lot 15, has 440
free spaces. “We do have a security presence down there [at Four Diamonds],” Spice said, including emergency phones, snow removal, adequate lighting and security personnel during the times that shuttles are being operated. Other options are also available for students who want to park on campus but cannot afford one of the HUB permits. Public Safety offers N permits for use after 4:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Fridays, as well as a Friday-only permit at a reduced price. “[It] looks like we oversell [permits] because in the first three weeks of classes, so many people are parked in the HUB without a permit, and so they are taking
up the spaces of the people who buy a permit, and the only way that we get them to stop is to keep writing them tickets,” Spice said. “Again, we can’t stop people from parking on a public street, but we ask [them] to park at Four Diamonds,” he said. “If for whatever reason that doesn’t work for you, park legally if you have to park in the neighborhood, and don’t trespass [and] walk through people’s yards, don’t litter and throw things down on the ground. “We’ve very much taken ownership of this and [are] trying really, really hard to address neighborhood concerns and do what we can to instill in the students and faculty the responsibility that they have of being a good neighbor.” S
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