Celeste Gibson -News Editor
New parking regulations will be in effect Jan. 1, 2020, with the most considerable revision changing the citation appeal process for students, faculty and staff.
According to TJC parking policies, members of TJC have 10 days to pay or appeal a fine before they have a hold placed on their account, and faculty and staff will have their ID badge and parking privileges revoked. Previously, the policies for students avoiding a fine was appealing to the Student Conduct Officer, while faculty and staff reached out to an Appeals Committee, which met once a month. However, with the new policy, a committee will review faculty, staff and student appeals.
Along with appeal changes, instead of towing vehicles, the vehicles on TJC property will have a boot placed on them. According to TJC policy, vehicles will be towed if someone has four or more parking violations; parks without a permit; parks on any sidewalk, lawn or reserved areas; violates any of the traffic and parking regulations; fails to obey the verbal order of any TJC Police Department personnel, or is an abandoned vehicle.
The administrative boot fee will be $50. According to HomeGuide, the average cost of towing a vehicle can be $75-$125. Students also pay the full expense if their vehicle is towed. “The policy for booting cars is similar to the policy that is currently in place to tow a vehicle,” Chief of Police Michael Seale said. “If someone’s vehicle is booted, they will be required to pay all of their outstanding citations and the administrative boot fee to get the boot removed. If someone isn’t able to take care of their citations and boot fee during normal business hours, they may bring a cashier’s check or money order to the police department after hours.”
From the beginning of the 2019 fall semester, there have been 967 citations issued and no cars towed, according to Seale.
“Citations are issued by TJC Police Officers, Public Safety Officer or Student Cadets,” Seale said. “The employees will leave a carbon copy of the citation on the vehicle, typically on the windshield, that violates the parking rules and regulations.”
Other differences include new classification of violations and fee schedules being in one place, renovation of driving and parking privileges on campus as well as the process for appealing such decisions. Those who have the authority to enforce the rules and regulations are also outlined in the new policy.
A formal grace period of one week at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters will be in place. The new regulations outline terms and classification of permits and IDs, and defines what is the misuse of one’s permit or ID card.
“The new parking regulations were a complete rewrite of the regulations that were currently in place, so there were a lot of changes,” Seale. “The goal of the new rules is to provide regulations that are clear and that are applicable to everyone.
