Lee Johnson
Managing Editor
gljohnson@valdosta.edu
Over the past weeks, VSU Parking and Transportation has been cracking down on illegally parked cars in marked disabled spaces on campus. This is due to an increase in the number of people parking in those designated spaces without proper credentials.
“Within the past weeks we have been checking disabled tags and permits due to noticeable abuse of the disabled parking spaces around campus,” said Director of VSU Parking and Transportation Jill Roundtree. “We have discovered that students are using others disabled parking permits to park in the disabled spaces.”
The Parking and Transportation department is checking by comparing the name on the VSU permit to the name on the disabled permit, and if the names do not match, then a citation is issued.
“We issued citations to vehicles that had disabled parking permits in someone else’s name,” Rountree said.
The citation for parking in a disabled spot illegally is a minimum of $105.
This method has not gone completely smoothly. There have been students that have received a ticket that they felt was unfair.
Ben Yates, senior computer information systems major, received one of these tickets. He and his wife, who has received a temporary disability permit, were parked on campus to attend classes on April 8. They received a ticket, which they appealed.
His first appeal, which was submitted in writing, was denied.
The appeal process for a citation issued by Parking and Transportation is a three tier procedure: in writing, in person and the final step, administratively. All appeals are heard by the Parking Appeals Committee every Wednesday at 2 p.m., including personal appeals. The committee is made up of five students, two faculty members and two staff employees.
Although written appeals are more common, students are allowed to request a personal appeal instead.
“Students can request a personal appeal versus a written one anytime,” Rountree said.
Yates did request a personal appeal after his written appeal, it was heard and his ticket was reversed.