An increase in illegal student parking on and around campus has led Florence city officials and university police to increase their efforts to address parking issues. The new efforts were explained in a campus-wide email sent out by UNA Police Chief Bob Pastula on Nov. 5. 

The email received an estimated 25 emails of criticism in response, Pastula said.

The response emails accused Pastula of altering parking policies and about 15 were from faculty members. The remaining emails were from students and several contained inappropriate language, he said. 

“There are some students that fail to see what I was trying to do,” he said. “They responded in a very unprofessional way.” 

The email was intended to warn students of the changes so they would have an opportunity to correct their behavior before officials increase policing efforts, Pastula said.

“We were ticketing vehicles — we weren’t really towing them,” he said. “We were trying to get a hold of people, trying to get them to move their stuff, but now there’s no more messing around. So, effective immediately, we’re going to do both.”

The increase in parking law enforcement was brought about by residents of nearby neighborhoods complaining to city officials about student parking and behavior, Pastula said.

“It’s not (Florence city officials) wanting to change the parking regulations — it’s our students parking where they are not supposed to park,” Pastula said. “They’re parking (and) blocking people’s driveways (and) parking on curbs where there is no parking.”

New efforts include installing new no-parking signs, repainting curbs where students are not allowed to park and an alteration in what tickets count toward a potential student conduct hearing. 

Pastula can track the number of municipal parking tickets students receive through a list he will regularly receive from the Florence Police Department, he said.

“Just this year (problems have) been escalating a little bit more, I guess because of the lack of parking,” Pastula said. “I think most of the freshmen think they are getting away with something by parking in the neighborhoods. Now they’re going to find that they are going to get their car towed and get a real parking fine.” 

Senior Jackie Cramford believes officials should seek out solutions other than increased ticketing, she said.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” she said. “I got one in front of Kilby and one outside Florence before. I just don’t like tickets.”

Members of the campus community may have reacted to the email because they are unfamiliar with the current process for parking violations and ticketing, said Student Conduct Director Kim Greenway.

“It’s not really a change in the process, or a change in anything, except that (police) are going to be more diligent to uphold and want students to know that ahead of time,” Greenway said. “It was just more of a courtesy notification for students.”

Although students originally received three parking violations from campus police before they were required to appear before the Student Conduct Board, there will be an alteration made to this process. Florence municipal tickets will count toward the three parking ticket limit students can reach before having to appear before the student conduct board, Pastula said.

“The only workload increase is that more and more students are parking illegally,” Greenway said of the potential increase in student conduct cases. “If students abide by university parking regulations, it’s no different than the way we’ve done it for years here. They get the chance to sign agreements and make payments with the police department already, so, really, it won’t have that big of an impact unless students disobey what they’re supposed to be doing.”

Regardless, the ticket payment process will not change, Pastula said.

Senior Sarah Leathers arrives at school between 30 to 40 minutes early to find a parking space, she said.

“I think if you’ve allowed so many students into your school, you should provide enough parking,” Leathers said. “It’s also up to the students to be responsible and arrive early if you know there’s a problem.”

Editor’s note: Editor-in-Chief Corinne Beckinger and Managing Editor Blythe Steelman contributed to this report.