The free ride is over for BCIT students parking in the Shriners’ lot on Wayburne Avenue. That’s according to a notice left on the windshields of rogue parkers’ cars this week.
The notice warns students that continuing to park there could get them towed. It also states that parking passes are available for the lot for $35 a month. Leslie Radunz, Fraternal Secratary for the Shriners says that student use of the lot has gotten out of hand, “It’s rampant at the moment,” she told Link Magazine.
She says that more students have been taking advantage of the lot since BCIT raised its parking prices, but she says students hunting for free parking are causing the charity big headaches. “We had a function, a service for a past Grand Master. Luckily there weren’t two hundred people attending because he was elderly. But we have functions during the week and people come and there’s no parking,” she said.
We tracked down some students who have been using the lot to get their perspective. Some, like Jordan Neal, say they’re trying not to use the lot as much after getting the notice: “Yesterday I didn’t park here at all – I did today just to save some time,” he admitted. He says he’s considering buying a pass next month. “$35 bucks – that’s a lot of money for a student, but it’s better than BCIT.”
Tyson Nichols echoed that sentiment. “Honestly what I think they should do is advertise it. Because they said you can pay – and it’s way cheaper than parking here,” he said. Nichols says he’s not too worried about getting towed, but it will affect how often he parks there. “Every so often I will, just not as frequently anymore.”
In the meantime, Radunz says there is now someone monitoring the lot, but wouldn’t say when the tow trucks might be called in.
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