With USF St. Petersburg approaching 4,000 students, a parking space can be hard to find. The parking garage has 1,156 spaces, with levels two through five designated for commuters with green permits. The top two levels of the garage are for residents with red permits, and parking in the wrong zone will land you a $30 ticket.
Even so, sophomore Marie Garza, holder of a green permit, says she finds herself parking on the roof more often than not when arriving on campus between 2 and 5 p.m.
“I’ve heard rumors about people getting tickets, and people complaining about getting tickets,” Garza said. “Others will just say ‘Well why didn’t you park in the overflow lots,’ but no one knows where they are.”
On Sep. 12, sophomore James Alvarez says he found a ticket on the windshield of his car around 1:30 p.m. for parking in an undesignated lot.
“I don’t find it fair that I got this ticket because there weren’t enough spaces on the commuter floors and there was room on the roof,” Alvarez said. “There should be more parking spaces since there are more students, or at the very least, better advertising for the already existing overflow lots.”
Alvarez sent an appeal to have his $30 ticket revoked, but has not yet heard back from Parking Services.
Overflow lots are available behind Harbor Hall, across the street from Harbor Hall and between Third Street and Fourth Street along the recreational field. Including the parking garage and overflow lots, there are 1,990 parking spaces available. The total number of parking passes was not available at press time.
While overflow lots exist to alleviate overcrowding in the garage, the issue for sophomore Jason Capocy lies in the mixing of red and green permits.
“I’ve seen red permits parking on levels two through five since school started,” Capocy said. Capocy emailed Bill Benjamin, manager of Purchasing Services, to voice his concern. “I feel commuters should have priority of the garage,” Capocy said in his email.
In response, Bill Benjamin said, “Residence hall students actually pay more than you do for their parking permits. That gives them the right to have spaces in the garage on Level 6 (primarily) and 7 (as overflow).” Capocy was advised to go to the overflow lots in the event of the garage reaching capacity.
“I would be more comfortable parking in the overflow lot if everybody parked in their designated areas,” Capocy said. “Green permits should stick to floors two through five, and red permits should stick to floors six and seven. To say the least it’s frustrating.”
In the meantime, the school’s growth may require USF St. Petersburg to open more parking spaces.
“USFSP is considering options for expanding the parking facility in the future,” said Communications Director Tom Scherberger. “The growth in the student population over the past several years has prompted our plans to review parking options to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of our students, faculty and staff.”
