After an increase in parking violations, Lasell’s parking office announced on February 28 that there would be some drastic changes to Lasell’s parking policies beginning in March.
In an email sent out to Lasell’s residents, it stated that there were numerous students with parking permits that were parking in the wrong lots and numerous that were parking on campus without permits.
According to the email, residents who were in the wrong lots would be warned by a ticket. The second time it occurs, their car may be towed at their own expense. Guests who are in the wrong areas without a permit would be towed at their own expense without warning.
There were also issues going on with students parking in handicapped spots as well as fire lanes. Lasell announced that those who violated that policy would no longer pay the $100 fee as it was increased to $200.
Campus police officers Robert Manning and Michelle Leblanc said that they noticed there has been an increase in parking violations since COVID-19 started.
Since fewer individuals were on campus last year, there were temporary parking permits being offered to students who wouldn’t normally receive a pass.
Leblanc and Manning said that they believe the students who previously held a temporary pass have contributed to the increase in parking violations as they feel “entitled” to a parking spot even though they no longer hold a pass.
Although they said that students have been violating the rules less since the recent campus police emails, they are still noticing violations.
“I feel like the students have been a bit more compliant,” Leblanc said, “However, we do still find students that are being blatantly disrespectful with parking wherever they choose.”
Senior journalism major and Co-Editor-in-Chief of The 1851 Chronicle Claire Crittendon who holds a valid parking permit for the Van Winkle lot said she has received a lot of tickets this year, mostly for parking in the wrong lot.
“When I get back from rehearsal late at night, it seems that the Van Winkle lot is [often] full. I feel silly calling campus police over something like this. As a result, I would go and park in the McClelland lot which always seems to have spots open and is very close by,” Crittendon said.
Crittendon also said that she thinks it would be a wise idea in combining the Van Winkle lot and McClelland lot into one since they are basically the same.
Sophomore public health major Annarita Sanfilippo holds a parking permit for the Rockwell Daycare lot and said that she’s had to call campus police before because her assigned lot was filled up with unregistered vehicles.
“I have faced many frustrations while trying to park in my assigned lot,” Sanfilippo said.
Sanfilippo said she thinks this issue is because many students, including upperclassmen, struggle to obtain a parking pass which is what she thinks causes the violations.
“The biggest issue with parking at Lasell is how limited the parking spots are in general,” Sanfilippo said. “They struggle immensely trying to find an appropriate amount of spots for both students and faculty.”