Vehicles, Bicycles, and Parking Lots

Allowable Vehicles

Allowable vehicles for parking at Student Housing include non-commercial automobiles and motorcycles. Trailers, RV’s, ATV’s, Snowmachines, or other similar vehicles are not permitted. Residents who may need to temporarily bring a trailer to campus should contact Residence Life prior to the trailer’s arrival to ensure that a plan is in place for proper use a timely removal of the trailer. Non-allowed vehicles found to be parked on the Housing lot will be towed if the registered owner cannot be identified - see Abandoned Vehicles, below. Non-allowable vehicles attributed to a housing resident will be assessed a $25/day charge until removed when a pre-approved plan has not been created with Residence Life for temporary storage of that vehicle in the parking lot.

Parking Spaces

All parking spaces atop University Drive in the housing complex require a parking permit; therefore, each allowable vehicle must be registered and permitted. As a courtesy, residents are eligible to register one allowable vehicle for no additional charge as part of their Housing Agreement.

Parking Registration

Residents are required to register their vehicles. To learn more about registration, visit the Vehicle Registration webpage. Once registered, the registration is good for the entire academic year from August to August provided the individual registering the vehicle continues to be a resident within the Housing community. A permit becomes invalid for use if an individual is no longer a current resident. Permits may be re-used for more than one year provided the resident continues to submit a parking registration form annually and maintains active residency on campus.

Permit Placement

The permit decal should be placed in the lower passenger-side corner of the windshield, visible for staff inspection.

Permit Fraud

Individuals found to possess an invalid or stolen permit on their windshield, or residents are found to have given or lent their permit to the driver of an unregistered vehicle will be fined $50 and be subjected to conduct action. Temporary short-term parking permits are available at Housing Desk locations for special circumstances.

Parking Violations

Motorcycles

Street-legal, licensed motorcycles may be registered as the one vehicle per resident. A small parking area has been created for motorcycle use, and it is recommended that owners use that area for parking. Motorcycle use on premises is limited to personal transportation purposes only. Excessive noise from repeated revving of the engine is discouraged as it disturbs other residents. Use of the parking lot and driveways for trick riding, that may be considered recreational use of the motorcycle, is prohibited.

Parking Lot and Driveway Guidelines

In order to provide for the protection of pedestrians, to keep fire lanes clear, and to avoid unnecessary expense for campus maintenance, it is the policy of Student Housing that motor vehicles are not permitted to be operated or parked on campus malls, sidewalks, and lawns. The following vehicles may be operated on campus malls, sidewalks and lawns without special approval by Facilities Services or Residence Life:

• Emergency vehicles (police, fire, medical, etc.)
• Approved vehicles for handicap use
• Certain maintenance and operating vehicles
• Snow removal and grass cutting equipment
• Mail, fuel, and commercial delivery vehicles

Student-owned vehicles may not park up on sidewalks, on the walkways between apartment buildings, or on the access road to the rear of Banfield Hall or John Pugh Hall unless they have gained approval from a Residence Life staff member to move heavy belongings in or out. Residents may not drive on sidewalks and walkways simply to unload groceries or other such items; the gates will remain open for residents to move in and out of their apartments at the start and end of each semester.

Specially-marked spaces are reserved with posted signs, including Housing vehicle spaces, maintenance vehicle spaces, and handicap spaces. Students and their guests may not park along curbs, on grass, or on the street anywhere in the housing complex. Additionally, vehicles may not be parked in front of dumpster sheds or in the areas marked off with diagonal yellow lines. Fines will be assessed to drivers who park inappropriately.

All residents, staff and guests are expected to abide by posted speed limit signs. The parking lot area experiences high pedestrian traffic, so it is very important to proceed slowly through the parking lot area. Also, the flow of traffic in the parking lot veers to the right upon entrance and moves counter-clockwise through the lot. Failure to follow the directional flow of the parking lot is considered a moving violation.

Reserved Spaces for University Staff and Designated ADA/Disabled Parking

Unauthorized vehicles parked in reserved parking spaces may be ticketed and/or towed. The parking violation fee for this type of offense is $50 for staff and service vehicle spots and $100 for ADA/Disabled accessible spots.

Inoperable Vehicles

Student Housing reserves the right to request that residents demonstrate their vehicles are operational by having them start their vehicle and drive it, without mechanical assistance, to be relocated to a different parking spot. Vehicles have to be operational to be registered and parked in the Housing lot. If a vehicle is determined to not be in operational condition, the registrant may face a $25 per day charge until the vehicle is repaired or removed. Residents may work with the Director of  Residence Life to establish a plan of action with deadlines for repairs to be made to avoid unnecessary fines.

Abandoned Vehicles

Vehicles left in the Student Housing complex parking lots located at 4300 University Drive for more than 7 days without being registered to a current Housing resident may be considered abandoned and will be towed from the premises. The charges incurred will become the responsibility of the student who registered it with Residence Life, or if unregistered, the vehicle's DMV registered owner. For special parking circumstances, see the Housing Desk locations about temporary short-term guest permits.

Vehicle Damage or Accidents

Report all vehicle accidents, losses, or vandalism to the Housing Desk locations or to the Resident Advisor On-Duty. Staff will assist residents with documentation of situations and/or with contacting local law enforcement. The University assumes no liability for loss or damage to vehicles parked on the University campus.

Periodically through the winter, it is necessary for Facilities Services to plow the housing parking lots. It is imperative for residents to cooperate in moving their vehicles to properly facilitate this process. It is far easier and more efficient to plow the entire length of an empty lot rather than to work around a few vehicles, leaving unplowed spaces. Generally, either the upper lot or the lower lot will be plowed so that vehicles may be moved to the opposite lot. Residents will notification via email with a minimum of 24 hours' notice. Residents are expected to make arrangements to move their vehicles at some point before the posted plow time has been scheduled. In the spring the same process is used to sweep the gravel from the lots that has accumulated over the winter. There is a $25 fine for failure to move a vehicle for a posted plowing.

Residents may choose to store a bicycle on campus. Note that all liability associated with bicycle ownership remains with the bicycle owner. Residents who utilize public bicycle racks at John Pugh Hall and main housing complex must register their bicycle with Residence Life in order to keep a record of their ownership and to assist Residence Life if the owner of a bicycle ever needs to be contacted. Registered bicycles will receive a permit sticker. It is the resident’s responsibility to make sure the permit stickers stay on the bicycle and to request a new registration sticker if the original is lost. On a bicycle, the permit decal should be placed on the upper section of the main frame, near the handlebars. At the end of each semester Residence Life audits bicycle racks and removes bicycles not registered to a current resident. Residents may store their bicycle over Winter Break without any additional registration provided they are a Spring resident. Bicycles left on campus after a resident leaves housing will be managed according to the abandoned property policy.

Bicycle racks provided outside of Banfield Hall, John Pugh Hall, the Housing Lodge, and Glacier Building are the only exterior Housing locations approved for bicycle storage.  Apartment residents have the option of keeping their bicycles in the storage room of their unit.  Bicycles are not permitted to be stored on apartment porches, on the Banfield Hall entry bridge, or anywhere within Banfield Hall or John Pugh Hall. 

Unauthorized motorized vehicles are prohibited on Housing sidewalks, walkways, and campus trails. Authorized use includes University personnel, law enforcement or Fire Department, and other safety personnel and crisis responders. Temporary authorized access may be granted upon request for those moving into or out of units or for special circumstances, i.e. for moving large items, or for accommodation to assist with accessibility difficulties. Staff will work to make these areas reasonably accessible during these times, provided that this use does not interfere with safety personnel access.

Non-motorized transportation devices, such as scooters, skateboards and roller-skates, as well as bicycles and unicycles, may use the Housing sidewalks, walkways and campus trails provided they are being used safely for personal transportation use, in a manner that is non-threatening to pedestrian traffic and is not a disturbance/nuisance to the Housing community.