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Three main changes will affect student parking. First-year students who live on campus are no longer eligible to enter the computer-run lottery for parking permits, overnight parking has been reduced to designated areas only and the permit fee was raised from $120 to $130 to help cover state sales tax.

Safety and Security, Residential Life, Admissions and other groups on campus jointly decided to limit the number of parking permits issued to first-years. They decided there was much to gain by staying on campus as much as possible during the first-year of college. They spoke with students about the matter, some of whom wished they had not had access to a car so easily their first year on campus.

“It’s your first year of college,” said Hoffman, “you should immerse yourself in college life.”

The parking decision is supported by more things planned on-campus after-hours and on the weekends, such as the convenience store and 24-hour computer lab opening up in Sorin this fall.

Another factor in limiting first-year parking on campus was taking into account that many commuter students had a hard time finding parking in years past. Commuters come and go, opening up spots periodically throughout the day, therefore serving the needs of more than one student with one parking spot.

There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. If a first-year has special circumstances they believe warrants being entered in the lottery, they may fill out an application and return it to the Safety and Security office. A committee comprised of Hoffman, Director of Disability Services Deb Holtz and a dean of the college will review the applications and award permits.
Medical, safety reasons and extreme hardship will be the basis for their decision. They will be “tight-fisted” in granting exceptions, making sure the reasons are legitimate. According to Hoffman, there have been nine applications submitted thus far, but, she said, “I expect to get a flood,” since applications can be submitted at any time throughout the school year.

Overnight parking has been reduced as well. ‘Overnight parking’ is defined as being in a lot at 3:00 a.m., regardless of whether you have been parked there since 8 p.m. or 2:59 a.m., and regardless of whether you leave at 11 a.m. or at 3:01 a.m. Overnight parking has been restricted to the very north row of the Drew Hall parking lot and the south row in the Heights’ parking lot. These two locations were chosen because they are well-lit and easily seen by security cameras. They also were chosen to get residents used to parking as close to their buildings as possible, leaving the rest of the lots open to friends, commuters and other non-residents.

There is also a drive-up call box on the west end of the Drew lot, due to the location of the overnight parking not near the building. Students can use the call box to arrange with security for an immediate escort from their car to their dorm if they would like. These two sections are easily expanded with moveable signs that can designate more rows if necessary.

More details regarding the new parking policies can be found at www.hamline.edu/security.