Students will soon return to find that their vehicle has been towed from the Southland strip mall if they are using the space for school parking.
According to Bruce Borkovich, director of Ferris DPS, someone will be observing if car owners who park here enter the businesses in the Southland strip mall, which includes RiteAid and Qdoba, or if they walk toward Ferris. If students walk toward the Ferris campus, tow trucks will be called.
Borkovich said the students parking in the Southland strip mall are often doing so to avoid paying for a commuter pass.
“We get that students don’t have a lot of extra money [for commuter passes]; they’re putting themselves through school,” Borkovich said. “But what’s going to happen is that students will get towed.”
According to the Department of Public Safety Office Supervisor June Swanson, 3,069 commuter permits were issued through December 31, 2013. There are 1,894 commuter spaces on campus.
“During the first week of classes, I drove around to get a feel for campus and realized commuters are not given very many parking spaces,” Ferris sophomore nursing major Chelsea Nelson said. “Not only that, but they are often quite far from building.”
Many students, including Nelson, used the Southland strip mall as parking to get to class. This semester she parks on the side streets by the science building.
The new University Center will have new commuter parking lots set to open in January 2015.