A new parking policy put into place by the Department of
Parking and Traffic reduced parking restrictions for students.
Students can park in the Stadium Lot after 2 p.m. during
weekdays, a change to the former policy that restricted students
without a Stadium permit from parking there until after 5
p.m, Parking and Traffic Director Barry D. Sauls said.
The change came when the Department of Parking and Traffic
decided to include the Quinn Center Lot in the rest of Stadium
Lot, classifying it as an “after 5 p.m.” area
where students could park.
In the past, the Quinn Center Lot allowed two hour parking
for students. The change to include the Quinn Center Lot
with Stadium Lot allowed 70 new spaces on campus, Sauls said.
Students with evening permits were allowed to park in the
Quinn Center Lot. Sauls said it made sense and was only fair
to include students with daytime passes as well.
Students with daytime permits paid twice as much to park
on-campus as those with evening passes, he said.
To make the Quinn even more accessible, the parking restriction
was moved back three hours, Sauls said.
“We are already doing it as far as we’ve given
our officers instructions to allow this, and we’re
going to get the public affairs person from Business Affairs
is to put something together and put it on AppalNET,”
Sauls said.
Robert L. Erron, sophomore anthropology major from Asheville,
said he was not affected much by the change in policy, but
said the new policy would be more convenient.
“It’s a lot easier to get around campus when
it’s lighter in the day,” Erron said.
Freshmen were the exception among students who could park
in Stadium after 2 p.m.
Approximately 1,100 students park their cars at State Farm
Lot, and the majority of those are freshmen, Sauls said.
To allow those students to move their cars to campus during
the day would decrease the number of available spaces for
others.
“We don’t want to create a situation where the
people with a Stadium permit come and have nowhere to go
because it’s filled with freshmen,” Sauls said.
Some freshmen were upset over the policy.
“That sucks,” Michael D. Jernigan, freshman biology
major from Durham, said. He said the policy seems to unfairly
favor older students.
“We’re here just as much as everyone else, even
if we haven’t been here that long,” he said.
“We have cars, too,” said Nicole Forrisi, a freshmen
psychology major from Siler City. “Why shouldn’t
we be allowed to park there, too? We pay the same tuition
as everyone else.”
Sauls said Appalachian State University is one of the few
schools in the UNC system that allows freshmen to have a
vehicle on-campus.
Faculty and staff are likely to park at Stadium more once
the Walker Lot is lost to construction for the Student Recreation
Center, Sauls said.
Those spaces will partly be replaced with the purchase of
property off Depot Street, Sauls said. Approximately 70 new
spots were gained as a result of the property purchase.
Student Government Association senator Matthew D. Whisenant
worked with Sauls regarding the policy, but was not available
for comment as of press time.
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