	Bob Hostetler > Writing

Streets Not Safe?

by Bob Hostetler

Imagine my surprise.

I had parked on Maple Street for a lunch meeting with a student at Shriver Center. As I locked my car, I carefully checked the curb and glanced up and down the street. Yup, the space I had chosen was clearly a legal parking space.

Nonetheless, upon returning to my car, a ticket fluttered under my windshield wiper. Again, I inspected the spot I had chosen, and could see no indication that I had unwittingly run afoul of the law. Still, there was the ticket. From the Miami University Police. For $75.

I was already running late, but I had no choice. Since I live in Hanover Township, I plan my trips into Oxford to save on gas and time, and I knew I wouldn't be back in town until after the parking fine was due. My next meeting would have to wait. I drove to the Campus Avenue Building, where the ticket informed me the Parking Services office was located.

It took thirty minutes for the four people ahead of me in line to get their questions answered. Thirty minutes I didn't have. I was greeted by an already harried (but polite) clerk. I showed her my ticket and informed her where I had parked.

"Are you a student?" she asked.

"No," I answered. "I live in Hanover Township."

"No problem," she said casually. "I'll take care of it."

"Why did I get the ticket in the first place?" I asked.

"Because you need a permit to park on Maple Street."

"But it's a public street, and there was no sign indicating it was permit-only parking."

She told me that Maple (like Oak, Spring, Chestnut, and Campus) is also a university street, and therefore policed by the university.

"So I can get a ticket even if I'm parked legally?" I asked.

"Unless you have a permit," she said.

"How do I get a permit?"

She asked if I had a son or daughter enrolled in the university. I answered that I did, but they have their own cars. She said that didn't matter, she couldn't issue me a permanent permit for my car, since they couldn't accept my word that my students wouldn't have access to my car. But, she added, all I need to do is come to Parking Services every time I enter the city and they will issue me a permit for the day.

I protested, stating that I seldom have thirty or sixty minutes to spare on my frequent trips into town (besides, where do I park while I'm getting the permit? In College Corner?). She politely told me that my other choice was to take my chances, then, and bring in any tickets I get to Parking Services after the fact, to void the fine.

I have since learned that another option is to stop at the MUPD center on the way into Oxford and obtain a temporary permit or take any ticket I receive to the Miami University Police Department (on State Route 73) where the lines tend to be shorter than at Parking Services. I'm also told that if the M.U.P.D. office is closed, the parking lot attendant can accept and void citations for permit violations.

Now, I should mention that I understand the city's and the university's predicament. There are 20,000 residents and 16,000 students sharing roughly twelve (okay, maybe thirteen) available parking spaces in the city. They have to regulate parking somehow. The city built a new parking garage uptown, but you can't expect the university to provide off-street parking for every student, staff, and faculty member, right?

Still, there's got to be a better way. When a citizen and taxpayer parks legally, he or she ought to be able to avoid a fine without making an extra stop or waiting in line. Furthermore, the MU policy has the effect of penalizing me because my children are students, as if I'm not paying enough for their education! Most fundamentally, of course, this scattershot approach to parking control assumes guilt without probable cause. It's like arresting everyone with a car in order to catch the speeders.

If the university's plan for controlling their part of the parking equation is to ticket everyone and let the poor unsuspecting (taxpaying) citizens sort out the injustices, that's no better than no plan.

This article appeared in the December 19, 2002 edition of the Oxford Press.

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