Council to hear hot debate over parking near BYU

PROVO — The verbal tug of war between Brigham Young University students and the Provo City Council over parking on the streets south of campus hasn't always been logical.

Stunned by the very idea of having to pay to park on a public street, some students provided feedback that has altered the council's proposal. Others tossed off lame complaints any good professor would slap with a fat red "F."

One recent exchange provided a jocular juxtaposition to the roles played by the two sides. Some students have accused the council of being paternalistic while, clearly, others have acted like questioning kids in a spat.

In a meeting with students last week, Joaquin Neighborhood Chairman Kurt Peterson pointed out that Salt Lake City restricts parking on the streets around the University of Utah, Orem restricts parking around Utah Valley State College and Logan restricts parking around Utah State University.

A student channeling lectures on peer pressure interrupted with the time-honored parental retort: "If Logan jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?"

That tone and others are evident in the hundreds of e-mails and faxed messages stuffed into a special, expandable binder in the council office. Most are against the proposal to limit on-street parking in the North Joaquin Neighborhood to residents. One came from as far as London. Some were hyperbolic, calling council members "communists," "Nazis" and extortionists.

"It would be stupid to charge people for parking on the street," BYU student Donny McClellan wrote. Not satisfied, he added in a second e-mail, "While we're at it, why don't we charge people to walk on the sidewalks, too?"

The council could put an end to the debate when it meets tonight at 7 in its chambers at the Municipal Building, 351 W. Center.

The program would allow only neighborhood residents to park on the streets between University Avenue and 900 East and from the southern border of BYU at 800 North down to 500 North.

City Council Chairman George Stewart said the parking permit program is designed to benefit BYU students who live in the area. He claimed that is even more true due to changes in the plan spawned by student feedback. Many of the students who said they read the proposal agreed it could help but had suggestions, some of which the council is considering.