Utah State decreases available parking, increases regulations

Utah State decreases available parking, increases regulations

By Chase Christensen

The current school year has seen an escalation in the competition for parking spots, an already scarce resource on campus. The recent construction of the new Regional Campuses and Distance Education building on the site of a former parking lot resulted in a reduction of 65 spaces, according to James Nye, director of Parking and Transportation Services. Permit and parking ticket prices have become another expense to be factored into the thousands of dollars already being paid in tuition and fees for some Utah State University students.

Students returning for the 2012-13 school year came back to Logan to find more parking regulations than when they left the previous spring. According to last year’s student advocate, Jason Russell, several new parking rules were passed the previous year and have recently taken effect.
 
“800 East was changed by the city to three hour parking only,” Russell said. “And the parking terrace pushed the time you can get out free back to 9:30 p.m. We tried to keep that from happening, but it happened anyway.”

After a car is parked on 800 East, roaming Logan City Parking Enforcement officers mark the vehicle’s tire with chalk, unless it is in a metered spot. If the vehicle has not been moved, erasing the chalk, within those three hours the owner is issued a $20 ticket that doubles if not paid within 10 days, according to Afton Seibold, an employee at USU parking.

She added that there are also several city blocks of surface streets around the school where students are not allowed to park, designated by posted signs. Violators will receive the same ticket as someone who breaks the three hour law.

Still, some see the risk of getting a ticket as a small price to pay in comparison to the increasing costs of parking permits.

“I’d rather risk getting a ticket than pay 100 bucks for a parking pass,” said Jackson Cozzens, a student who commutes from Salt Lake City every weekday. “I know you can get cheaper ones but those are worthless. You’re paying at least $100 for one that is worth anything.”

According to the school’s website, a yellow parking permit is $30 per year and allows one to park in the stadium lot and others a similar distance away. A blue pass will costs $96 per year and provides access to parking mostly on campus. A parking pass to the Aggie Terrace can also be purchase for $200.

This can represent a significant cost to students already paying to attend college.

“It’s not just about the cost, even though it is a lot,” said Lance Chau, a student who bought a blue parking permit for the year. “It’s the fact that you pay that much and it doesn’t even guarantee you a spot. You still have to wander around in the mornings hoping to find a spot and you end up parking on the street anyway.”

According to Nye, a total of 12,366 permits were sold in 2011.

“It doesn’t seem fair that they can take away parking lots by building buildings and then ticket you for parking on the street near the college if you can’t find anywhere else,” Chau said.

USU is doing its best to find a compromise between providing sufficient parking while supporting the university’s need to expand, Nye said.

“Campus Planning has slowly realized that they need to maintain a certain number of parking stalls on central campus,” Nye said. “The philosophy for many years was to build on central campus and push parking to the exterior.”

No new structures or parking areas are scheduled to be added anytime soon Nye said.