Reader comments
Y. students losing street parking

The attitudes of the Mayor and the city council members were disgusting. It felt as though the students are a thorn in their side. I guarantee that the income of the students living in Belmont, Highland Park and Arlington surpasses that of those in the neighborhoods. Mayor Billings needs to understand that Provo would be nothing without BYU. Belmont, Arlington and Highland Park are some of the only nice places to live because BYU has a ridiculous approved housing system that gives landlords guaranteed tenants and no reason to improve living standards. I say we boycott business in Provo as much as possible and show them how much of an effect we have; that or all park in front of the council members and Mayors house and shuttle to our homes. They removed the problem from south campus and we can move it to their neighborhood. Also, what did the homeowners expect? You live that close to campus and you should expect it.

BYU can't seem to get its act together about the parking and transportation problems in Provo, and the mayor and city council aren't helping as they pander to the landlords seeking to protect their income sources. What did BYU expect would happen to traffic and parking in the 2-mile radius they now require students to live within when they laid down that new edict? I think read an article in the recent past where someone from the BYU housing office commented that they didn't think the new rule would lead to increased traffic and parking problems. What a crock!

The fact is, there are deep problems in city planning that simply will not go away by restricting students even further from living in the spaces they pay to live in just as legally as the residences of the single-family homes in those areas.

Provo needs a landlord property inspection program that will prevent properties from being rented unless they can provide a minimum standard of living for the occupants, including adequate parking for the property based on the number of potential occupants. BYU needs to drop the silly plan to require all students live within 2 miles of campus.

Why doesn't the city and/or BYU build a series of multi-level parking garages at strategic locations near the congested neighborhoods. Those who enter must have parking permits or pay to park. Manned booths and a few security vehicles would ensure that authorized parking/payment for use would take place, and provide security for pedestrians as well. This would greatly alleviate the tension for apartment dwellers and those in single family homes. It is not fair to penalize all landlords/tenants for the actions of a few. If the city or the university has parking problems it should fix the problem by creating more parking. A parking garage (or several) would be the best use of the least amount of land, and would be greatly appreciated (and utilized) by all.

Yes you can expect to have people parking on the street but If the students were more respectful of others property rights It would go a long way to ease the wounds. They have no right to traipse through yards and climb or break fences to create short cuts. If they showed a little respect and concern for their neighbors by keeping parties quieter and keeping voices down at night, there would be less complaints. Being young BYU students often feel "entitled" to make noise and have parties cause that's what kids do. They also are self centered.

If they thought a little more about the neighborhood and less about themselves I bet a lot of the problems would disappear.

How many of the "homes" are owner occupied and how many are rental properties? It seems to me that only OWNERS should have any rights not given equally to ALL renters, whether they live in single family homes which are the true parking hogs or apartment complexes which at least have more parking spaces per occupant. The homeowners who complain have a valid point only if they actually OWN the home where they have parking complaints. If you buy the house you can have a voice, but if you only rent the house why does that make you have any more need than any other driver who wants to park a car close to home.

Mr 'been there done that,' Many of the student who live in Arlington, Highland Park and Belmont ARE OWNERS. They were not contacted concerning the new law and I know as I am an OWNER who LIVES in Highland Park.

Saying that all students are cut through people's yards and only think about themselves is an offensive blanket statement that probably applies to the minority. But really, think about it, if you moved next to any school, elementary through college, you will have some people cutting through your yard. It just comes with the territory. Kind of like if you move next to an airport or railroad, its gonna be noisy. Those are just things you should look into before you move into a neighborhood.

Those neighborhoods are going to hate it when they can't have guests or parties of their own. Of course, we all know that the
enforcement will probably be selective.

dear I do OWN thankyou, so do I, so I am one of the "greedy landlords" who was hoodwinked into believing that more parking was going to be provided in the Belmont development phase. My reference was to the "family neighborhood residents" who are also often renters. Often families have teen drivers and three or more vehicles, plus various guests. Are they enforcing their own overcrowded parking issues, or just blaming it on the single students? Houses should not have street parking privileges if they have driveways. Are the family neighborhoods as hard on themselves as they are on "outsiders" parking on "their" streets?

We are going to be holding a meeting at the Belmont Condos clubhouse this Saturday at 5 to come up with possible solutions to this issue. The students are being ignored and stereotyped as loud and offensive and we are done being given that image.

If you are sick of getting trampled, come and voice your opinion. We will discuss anything from boycotting Provo businesses to marching on city hall.

Thirty thousand strong will make a change to this community. We came here to be a part of something great and all that is happening is we are being dismissed as "temporary residents" or "young people."

Join us this Saturday at five and lets make a change.

Once more, everyone in Provo stands in a circle and points to the right.

The stated rationale for "BYU approved housing" is to make sure that all student housing meets minimum standards. Obviously the minimum standards do not necessarily include the ability of landlords to meet the reasonable needs of students for parking.

If civic officials can regulate the parking spaces a business must have for its customers and identify the ratio of parking spaces needed for handicapped patrons, surely the City of Provo can estimate how much parking an apartment renting to 8 occupants will need to tenant & neighborhood needs --and mandate either landlord compliance or a withdrawal the certificate of occupancy for tenants exceeding the parking space to tenant ratio.

If BYU won't show suspend approval for housing that doesn�t supply adequate parking for its tenants, then the city should demonstrate a modicum of leadership by revising its zoning ordinances to require a ratio of parking spaces to occupants as part of the zoning authorization for high-density housing units �not just issue a post-facto ban on tenants parking their cars and an imposition of parking tickets on the hapless. . . students or otherwise.