Special Circumstances

Occasionally, it might be necessary to park near a residence hall or office/classroom building for a short period of time to load or unload a vehicle. To avoid receiving a parking citation please call Public Safety at campus extension 5357, (301-447-5357 from a non-campus telephone) with an estimate of how long your vehicle will be in the unauthorized area. When approval is given please be sure to turn on your four-way flashers.

Should your vehicle become inoperative in a lot or space not assigned to you, please call Public Safety at ext. 4230 and an officer will respond to assist you. If the vehicle remains inoperative, the officer will verify its condition and may authorize a temporary permit or time extension.

Implementation

• Parking enforcement for students is progressive process. A citation may issued for a parking or safety violation and a fine levied.

• Parking enforcement for employees begins with a citation for a parking or safety violation and a fine is levied.

• Students who accumulate ten (10) or more parking citations in an academic year are subject to additional sanctions including towing and/or loss their parking privilege for the remainder of the academic year.

• Employees who accumulate ten (10) or more citations within a fiscal year may be placed in restricted parking, and their vehicle will be subject to towing if they violate this restriction.

Collection Procedures
Fines for a parking citation are payable at Public Safety between the hours of 9:00 AM & noon and from 1:30 to 5:00 PM, Monday thru Friday, for five (5) days after the date of violation.  After five (5) days the fines are payable at the Accounting and Financial Affairs office on the third floor of Bradley Hall during normal business hours.

Student process

• Moving violations/parking citations issued to a student are forwarded to the Finance Office for billing once the appeals process has expired.

• A student’s account is then billed.

• A student may not be able to register for the next semester unless all outstanding bills are paid.

Employee process

• Moving violations/parking citations issued to an employee are forwarded to the Finance Office for billing once the appeals process has expired.

• An employee driving a university vehicle is personally responsible for paying any citations received while driving that vehicle.

• An employee is then billed for the citation.

• At the semester’s end the Finance Office will notify Public Safety of any outstanding employee citations.

• Bills not paid may result in the employee’s car being towed if found on campus.

A vehicle may be towed from campus at the owner’s expense for excessive or serious violation(s) of the parking regulations.  Some of the violations for which a vehicle may be towed from campus are:

• Parking in a fire lane/handicapped space

• Parking illegally causing a safety hazard

• Interfering with snow removal

• Parking illegally in a tow-away parking lot

• Three (3) or more parking citations on a vehicle not registered on campus

• Parking on grass.

• Obstructing flow of traffic on streets or trafficways.

• Interfering with an emergency right of way.

• The accumulation of 10 or more parking citations during an academic year (August 1^st through July 31^st).

Private towing companies are utilized by Public Safety. The owner of the towed vehicle can call Public Safety for the address of the towing company. Neither the Mount nor Public Safety receives any payment for the towing.

Parking Appeals
The campus is posted with parking requirements and all students and staff receive a copy of the campus parking rules at the start of each school year.  These can also be found on the Public Safety website.

There are a limited number of legitimate reasons for granting a parking ticket appeal, and if your appeal does not fall within one of these categories, it may not be granted.

• If the ticket was issued incorrectly.

• If an actual emergency, as defined by the appeals committee, existed and you were unable to contact Public Safety.

• Officer error.

• Legitimate visitors – one warning.

• Decal could not be seen, but was properly displayed.

NOTE:  Every appeal is subject to verification.  When in doubt, always call Public Safety for information or to advise of a problem.  The call does not constitute a reprieve if the illegal parking was not justified.

Appeals Process

Citations may be appealed online or by submitting an appeal in writing to Public Safety.  Appeals must include the citation number, the date and location of violation, name and e-mail address of the person appealing, and the reason for the appeal.  All appeals must be filed with Public Safety within five (5) days of citation’s issuance.  After that time, the appeal may be denied for being untimely.  Appeals submitted to any University official outside of this process will not be considered valid and may not be entertained. 

Notification of the appeal ruling will be returned by e-mail within ten (10) business days.

Designated Parking Areas and Assignments