While students, faculty and staff at UNR leave many paid parking spots open in different colored lots, not willing to fork over money from tight budgets for higher and higher university parking passes, external entry points into the campus are often crammed with vehicles, while others park further away in somewhat secret spots or in nearby neighborhoods.
The City Council last week voted 4-2 to have a new resident-only parking zone in one neighborhood behind the Rancho San Rafael regional park.
Council members Jenny Brekhus and Meghan Ebert voted against the change with Brekhus saying this set a bad precedent for “enhanced private property rights” and privatizing parking in public areas.
She said many people like to jog in Rancho and park in the safe neighborhood when it closes earlier during winter months, and would no longer be able to do so. Brekhus also lamented the fact this would exclude UNR students, or people attending public events such as balloon races or cross country meets.
Instead, she called on better City of Reno parking enforcement, towing and booting for cars remaining in neighborhoods days on end.
Devon Reese who voted in favor of the new parking permits in the Putnam Drive and Creighton Way neighborhood agreed boosting parking enforcement needs to be looked into, as he acknowledged the city has had other priorities in recent years.
Ebert was underwhelmed with a neighborhood survey in the affected area with only 22 people out of 56 home owners wanting to proceed with this new paid, privatized parking system.
What are your own thoughts on this decision and the parking enforcement situation in general around campus and in Reno?
Brekhus Warns Against Privatizing Parking as UNR Students Avoid Campus Fees
Above photos were taken on the afternoon of Oct. 18, with congested areas right outside campus but not in adjacent neighborhoods.