Around 800 Emmet/Ivy Garage permit holders experienced disruptions after being required to move their vehicles from the Emmet/Ivy Garage to the John Paul Jones Arena Parking Garage by Sept. 18 at 10 p.m. Permit holders were not reimbursed for the disruption and students expressed concern because the new parking area was further away and not covered.
Community members who purchased a parking permit for the Emmet/Ivy Garage — which cost $324 for an annual pass — were notified of this change via email Sept. 15 and given three days’ notice to move their cars. In its original email, the Department of Parking and Transportation said the decision to relocate Emmet/Ivy Garage parking permits was made “in order to continue providing efficient day-to-day parking and transportation to the University community.” An annual pass to park at John Paul Jones costs the same as the Emmet/Ivy Garage pass.
A second email from the Department of Parking and Transportation sent Sept. 23, answered some frequently asked questions about the parking change. The email said that relocating permit holders was a necessary decision.
“If all permit holders remained in place, the Emmet/Ivy Garage would fill to capacity starting Sept. 19,” the email read.
Fourth-year Commerce student Muaaz Luqman is an Emmet/Ivy parking permit holder. Luqman said he paid for a parking permit to have a roof over his car — yet the new parking at the JPJ lot is essentially street parking because it provides no cover to protect cars.
“JPJ is both further and it’s not covered, whereas Emmet/Ivy is a garage so there’s a roof, so that’s definitely something that I haven’t liked,” Luqman said.
Luqman said some students have printed flyers and emailed complaints, but students were not offered a discount or reimbursement for the cost of their parking pass.
Third-year Architecture student Reagan McCullough is also an Emmet/Ivy parking permit holder. McCullough said she doesn’t use her car as much anymore because it’s farther away at JPJ and is frustrated that students weren’t offered a refund.
“It feels a little unfair, and blindsiding,” McCullough said. “Having to move [my car] was very sudden … [it] messed up my day-to-day plans.”
University spokesperson Brian Coy said in an email to The Cavalier Daily that around 800 permit holders were affected, and that the University Parking Services is aware of the inconvenience this has caused for employees and students.
Coy also said the University decided to modify parking access to address traffic concerns in the Emmet/Ivy area.
“These moves are a response to unanticipated demand on University parking services that posed a concern about overflowing the Emmett/Ivy garage and disrupting traffic and transit patterns in that area,” Coy said.
According to University spokesperson Bethanie Glover, the Department of Parking and Transportation provided an update to the displaced permit holders Oct. 14. Some permit holders were able to begin parking in the Emmet/Ivy Garage again, others were directed to available parking spaces elsewhere.