Parking restrictions hit East Union
John Krudy
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: News
Students and residents were surprised to find their cars ticketed after parking on the east side of Union Street this week, but a Hillsdale city official said students had fair warning.
Security Department Secretary Charlene White e-mailed students on Tuesday afternoon, warning them that city police were beginning to ticket between College Street and Barber Street, an area that had previously been open to parking.
"Our security guy, Bill Knauss, came in and said he noticed all the cars [on the east side of Union] had tickets," White said.
By Wednesday, senior Brandon Irish had two $10 city parking tickets for parking on Union Street near the Sage Center for the Arts.
"I thought they were going to tow me," Irish said. "When I moved here [on Tuesday] it was packed. When I came back out all the cars were gone."
But the city of Hillsdale's Director of Public Safety, Chris Gutowski, said the signs should have been no surprise to the illegal parkers.
"We put the new 'No Parking' signs up Thursday or Friday - we didn't ticket through the weekend, and we waited until Tuesday afternoon to start," Gutowski said.
Gutowski said the parking situation on Union Street is now consistent.
"You'll see there's been no parking on that side of the street from Carleton to Howder, or up by The Suites," he said. "Now it's all the same."
Gutowski said that overcrowded parking during football games and Parent Weekend persuaded him to recommend the new parking restrictions to the Hillsdale City Council at their meeting on Oct. 15.
"It was difficult for people to get out of their driveways," he said. "This makes it easier for emergency vehicles to get through, too."
Security Department Secretary Charlene White e-mailed students on Tuesday afternoon, warning them that city police were beginning to ticket between College Street and Barber Street, an area that had previously been open to parking.
"Our security guy, Bill Knauss, came in and said he noticed all the cars [on the east side of Union] had tickets," White said.
By Wednesday, senior Brandon Irish had two $10 city parking tickets for parking on Union Street near the Sage Center for the Arts.
"I thought they were going to tow me," Irish said. "When I moved here [on Tuesday] it was packed. When I came back out all the cars were gone."
But the city of Hillsdale's Director of Public Safety, Chris Gutowski, said the signs should have been no surprise to the illegal parkers.
"We put the new 'No Parking' signs up Thursday or Friday - we didn't ticket through the weekend, and we waited until Tuesday afternoon to start," Gutowski said.
Gutowski said the parking situation on Union Street is now consistent.
"You'll see there's been no parking on that side of the street from Carleton to Howder, or up by The Suites," he said. "Now it's all the same."
Gutowski said that overcrowded parking during football games and Parent Weekend persuaded him to recommend the new parking restrictions to the Hillsdale City Council at their meeting on Oct. 15.
"It was difficult for people to get out of their driveways," he said. "This makes it easier for emergency vehicles to get through, too."
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