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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8/20/2019 Item 05, Kienow Date: Aug. 1, 2019 Subject: Cal Poly Actions re: Students Parking Off-Campus Purpose: Response to the city’s request for public comment regarding efforts to encourage students to not bring vehicles to the city with the expectation that they can park them in the neighborhoods for the Aug. 20, 2019,City Council Agenda item Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Cal Poly Public Safety-Transportation andParking Services (TAPS)and Community Relations departments received about a half dozen complaints regarding students parking their vehicles on public streets in San Luis Obispo neighborhoods and then walking, biking, utilizing a car sharing service such as Uber or Lyft, or choosing alternate means of transportation to travel to campus from their vehicle. We understand that the extra vehicles create challenges for residents in those areas that are near to campus but outside of designated parking districts where permits are required. Because being a good neighbor is a high priority for this campus, Cal Poly has taken many steps to address this issue. We’ve had great success in a number of areas with strategic and directed outreach and communicationon this issue. We plan to heighten our efforts to let the incoming class of students and their parents or supportersknow that vehicles are not permitted and that our expectation is that students do not bringvehicles to the area planning to park them off campus. We communicate throughout the year to students, imploring them to notbring avehicleto campus or to the city unless absolutely necessary, not to park their vehicles in the surrounding neighborhoods, and to consider allof the alternative modes of transportation. We particularly do this outreach at key points when we’ve seen and heard from neighborsor city staff that it’s become an intensified issue. All but one of the complaints that were received this year came in after spring break and prior to Memorial Day weekend. After discussions with the neighborhood residents and city officials, we are finding the problem is multi layered.It is not just first-year residents parking in the surrounding neighborhoods but also upper-class commuter students who are looking for free options to park. Transportation and Parking Services does offer a permit for students to bring back theirvehicles and park them on campus after the MemorialDay weekendas we know that many students, including first-year students, do need vehicles to assist them in moving out when supporters are unable to pick them up as the academic year closes. Unfortunately, the lots that are used to store these vehicles cannot be offered until after Memorial Day weekend. We will continue to offer this as an option in the future. What we learned this past year is that earlier communication about this option may deter some students from bringing their vehicles to the area prior to Memorial Day weekend. In the future, we’re committed to earlier communication on this option. For perspective, every commuter who applied for a campus permit in winter and spring quarter received one. In fall, every commuter who applied for a campus permit received one by the middle of that quarter. Below is some of the communication that we send out via email to students and their parents or supporters. We also have the below information posted on the University Parking website and verbally communicate to all participants of SLO Days, which includes all first-time and transferstudents and their parents. We further advocate for thebikeabilityof this area and all of the other convenient modes of transportation that do not include a personal vehicle. Our goal is to show students coming to campus for the first time how easy it can be to not have a vehicle. The hope is that this experience will encourage many to continue to not bring vehicles throughout their time at Cal Poly. Cal Poly residential students are not permitted to bring vehicles to campus for the duration of their freshman year (fall through spring quarter). This includes students who have enough credits to be considered sophomores at any time during their first academic year at Cal Poly. First-year residential students are limited from purchasing campus parking permits including daily, weekly and quarterly permits. We ask that students comply with the spirit of this policy by not bringing vehicles to San Luis Obispo with the expectation that they can be parked on the streets or public areas of our neighboring communities. Students are expected to help Cal Poly be a good neighbor.In addition, most surrounding streets and neighborhoods require a city parking permit or have limited time zones. Permits are only available to the property owner or authorized recipient who currently reside within the residential district boundaries. We realize that freshmen students will want to take advantage of the many activities available off-campus as well. While no resources can truly match the convenience of a private vehicle, a number of transportation options are available for all Cal Poly students including: Zipcar, PolyRides, bicycle, taxi/Uber/Lyft, SLO transit, RTA bus, and Amtrak bus. It is our hope that by restricting vehicles in the freshman year, students will take advantage of the many alternative transportation options available to them, and will think twice about the need to bring their vehicles to San Luis Obispo in subsequent years. Cal Poly students with an extraordinary situation may apply for an exception to the above policy. Guidelines for restricting freshman from bringing vehicles to campus have been established at a majority of California universities including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, Stanford University, and Santa Clara University. While the goal of all of this communication is to deter people from parking in the neighborhoods, we also know that the enhanced education opens up the idea as a solution to parking challenges for some. Feedback from some students and their supporters has been to question why this lawful activity is being discouraged. We are aware that highlighting this topic may lead to undesired outcomes in some cases. Cal Polyreached out to other universities to find out if institutions with similar enrollment counts and parking spaces have solutions we may not have considered. In addition, city and university staff meet regularly to discuss issues and collaborate on ways to improve communication and community understanding of city and university parking policies and options.