SUPD plans to alleviate parking issues

Students who live on the south side of campus have once again run into parking problems.
On Monday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 a.m. tow trucks and Southern University police officers issued tickets and towed students parked in spaces 40 through 80 at Wallace Bradford Hall.
These citations indicated that vehicles were not in the correct zone and that the cars were parked in faculty allotted spaces.
According to the 2006-07 Parking and Procedures pamphlet given to each student during vehicle registration, the parking lots surrounding Mary Bethune, Booker T. Washington, Horace White, Grandison and Bradford Halls are allotted for residents living on the south side of campus.
Not so, according to Captain Charlene Anderson of the Southern University Police Department.
“The first spaces in Bradford one through 39 are allotted for students, as well as the strip of land by the dumpsters,” Anderson said. “The remaining spaces are intended for faculty and staff.”
Students who live in the front of campus have had parking issues in the past as well.
Washington residents complained that there were only 17 spaces set aside for them, a fact that forced drivers to park at the Smith-Brown Memorial Union and bookstore lots-illegal zones for students, which led to further towing and ticketing.
Faced with ongoing parking problems, residence assistants from Bradford and Washington Halls, Student Government President Niiobli Armah, SUPD Deputy Administrator Kevin Johnson, Anderson and 11 other students met to try to alleviate towing and ticketing headaches.
According to a memorandum sent to residents, all tickets and towing fines to those residents who were forced to park in the grass, or created spaces, were waived.
Campus police officials pledged to monitor residential parking lots more frequently for commuter students who park in residential spaces. If commuters are found in violation, they will be removed.
“We have also proposed several solutions,” said Carey Ash, junior class senator and SGA senate president pro-tempore.
“The first of which is to form a committee of students to work with police with parking and ticketing,” said Ash, who is also a resident of Bradford Hall. “The second is to have more parking for commuters and residents alike.”
For Washington residents, additional lighting behind the dormitory will be added to provide safety for its residents who park behind the building.
A part of the problem for Bradford residents was the fact that the university’s housing department only reported 19 registered vehicles, when there were actually 48 registered vehicles, according to Anderson.
Junior electrical engineering major Jerome Jackson, from Zachary, was one of the many who was ticketed on September 18.
“The contradicting fact is, that based on the map provided by SUPD, the entire lot is green (green spaces signify residential parking),” Jackson said. “We were not aware that only spaces 1-39 were reserved for us.”
In addition to opening the lot next to Reflections Bookstore for overflow from Bethune, Washington and Bradford Halls, the remaining spaces unused by faculty will be released to residents.
“Until the problem is resolved, commuters and wrong zones stand the chance of being ticketed and towed,” Anderson said. “We are usually very lenient after 5 p.m., but towing is a 24 hour, as needed thing.”
She also issued a warning to those parking in incorrect zones.
“We will issue warnings, then we’ll put up signs,” Anderson said. “Then all will be subject to towing. Those who are in fire lanes, handicapped spaces or no parking zones will be towed.”
“You can still park, just do it legally,” Anderson said.