University of St.Thomas students have experienced an uptick in parking tickets given out on Grand Avenue and Finn Street. This came after a snow emergency in early March that left many commuters without a spot to move their cars to, with some opting to park in the Anderson Parking Facility without a permit.
Grand resident Ezra Budish said he has experienced his fair share of parking tickets, including around the time of the March 5 snow emergency.
“I couldn’t find another street to move my car to, so I parked in the ramp and ended up snagging a couple tickets,” Budish said.
The Anderson Parking Facility requires Students must have a valid St. Thomas parking permit to use Red or Yellow surface lots — otherwise, they are subject to a $45 fine. Visitors are also allowed to park in the facility for a rate of $1.50 per hour before 4 p.m. and $1 after 4 p.m, according to the university’s visitor parking website.
Before Budish received his parking ramp ticket, he said he also saw a car being towed through high snow banks.
“I didn’t know whose car it was, but I do know that nobody wants their car to get towed,” Budish said.
A few weeks later, Budish walked into another pair of parking tickets, one of which he thought wasn’t warranted.
“The one that made sense was that I had expired tabs on my vehicle, didn’t realize it and got that taken care of as soon as I got the ticket,” Budish said. “The other ticket was for not having a parking pass when I had the parking pass — it just slid down my dashboard and wasn’t visible from the street.”
Senior Mady Kapanke is another Grand resident who received a parking fine in recent weeks for not having a visible permit.
“I got one for parking on Grand outside of my apartment without a permit, even though I had one. I guess they weren’t able to see it from the street,” Kapanke said.
Nikki Muehlhausen, a public information officer for the St. Paul Police Department, said officers are aware of the increase in parking tickets on Grand and have received more complaints about parking violations near campus in recent months.
Muehlhausen said that the most common parking violations officers have encountered are drivers parking too close to stop signs or crosswalks, blocking fire hydrants and fire lanes, parking in no parking zones despite there being posted signs and parking in permit parking-only zones.
Budish is not a St. Thomas student, but he lives with his partner, a current senior at the school. Budish said the tickets do not affect him as much as they might a student attending college.
“Tickets aren’t the end of the world for me as a full-time worker, but for most of the people who are parking on Grand and the surrounding streets, they’re college students that either don’t have a ton of extra money to go around or they financially rely on their parents,” Budish said.
Kapanke said the tickets have been a financial burden on her and the people she knows.
“We pay for our own things like apartment rent, food, school and more. I work very hard for my money, and spending it on a ticket is frustrating,” Kapanke said.
St. Thomas senior and Grand resident Zach Larson has also received parking tickets in the past and said he has noticed many more recently.
“The ticket I got was for parking within 6 feet of an alleyway; I gotta be honest, I didn’t even know that was a violation,” Larson said.
Larson said he discovered the ticket on his way to work in the morning.
“(It) kinda started the day off on a rough note. I wasn’t even blocking the alleyway; I was probably 4 feet from the opening. I guess I should’ve scooted a little closer,” Larson said.
Being a St. Thomas student, Larson said he often walks along Grand and Finn, which he said are rife with parking tickets.
“I walk by the Center for Well-Being a lot, and recently I’ve seen a lot of parking tickets. A lot of people are catching on to that too; some of my friends have gotten tickets as well,” Larson said. “The tickets are also inconsistent, so I’m not sure when they come hand them out.”
Muehlhausen said the times when parking enforcement officers patrol is largely dependent on complaints.
“Parking enforcement officers do not have a set schedule; they patrol the area based on complaints and proactively because of the complaints. Local parking enforcement officers work seven days a week with various shifts throughout the day,” Muehlhausen said.
Larson said he wishes that there was a clearer indication of St. Paul policies and where his money towards tickets is going.
“The only reason I know about the rule of parking 6 feet away from an alleyway is because of my ticket. I think there should be a clearer sense of rules in place for people parking on the street and where their fine amounts are going towards,” Larson said.
To avoid further confusion, Muehlhausen said that the fine amounts of each ticket are not being sourced directly to the department.
“The fines of each ticket are paid to the District Court/Violations Bureau, where the fine amount is distributed to the state, county and city. The fine amounts are in no way being issued in hopes of generating revenue,” Muehlhausen said.
Budish said he thinks that looking at street signs is enough to figure out what is allowed.
“I’d say it’s pretty easy to find out what the violations are. Most of the time you just have to look at what the signs say: this time to this time, this day to this day, or you can’t park there at all if you don’t have a permit, which makes parking a little more difficult around this part of town,” Budish said.
The SPPD has a parking rules website that outlines parking regulations for people to avoid getting a ticket.
“The parking issues at Grand and Cretin are causing pedestrian safety concerns and making it less safe for pedestrians crossing the street. We would prefer if people parked legally and we didn’t have to write citations,” Muehlhausen said.
Looking ahead, Larson said he hopes that parking guidelines will be made clearer to students and residents parking on the streets near St. Thomas.
“I think getting a ticket is less frustrating when you agree with what you’re getting cited for. If I had more clarity on these parking violations, I think I’d be a much happier camper,” Larson said.
Jake Slack can be reached at slac8833@stthomas.edu.
