Can an organisation take all the public parking in the street?

Public parking is public parking – it’s for everyone. So yes, the school can take up all the spots.

I have a good friend who lives near this old guy who gets very upset when people park in front of his house. He thinks he owns the street! Sometimes people get territorial about things like parking spots, but public is public.

In response to your question: How legal is this, to take up an entire road and off lanes every day all day without regard to other people seeking parking? What right would a cop have to right tickets to the university students who park on the street? “You didn’t leave a spot for @shippy?” How could they enforce that and how could they determine which of those students gets the ticket?

It’s too bad you live near a university but it would be no different than living near a medical buliding that had on-street parking, or living near any other business or organization that had lots of cars taking up spots. That’s why when you look for an apartment next time, try to find one with either their own lot or driveway.

@jca sorry had to giggle at the shippys spot (giggles). I see your point but then you know, just for the heck of it I’ll say this, if its public, where is my spot then? :(

Usually, on street parking is first come, first serve. I don’t think there’s much you can do to prevent others from parking there.

When I lived in LA, my apartment complex had no assigned parking, only street parking and it was a fight to the death to find a spot. Sometimes I had to park almost two or three blocks away from my apartment.

See above. Public parking. Public means open for use by the public. It does not promise you a parking place any more than it promises you an open toilet in a public restroom or a bench in a public park.

well maybe a new law should come into play, no parking outside residential blocks, as like @AshlynM said she often had to park miles away to get home. I have had that tool It was awful.

You could talk to the owner of your apartment building. They are in a better position to negotiate with the college.

You could also talk about the government (county? city?) entity that handles zoning. In Washington D.C., for example, many parking areas are zoned permit parking only to keep outsiders from filling residential streets up. Then, parking permits are issued to residents.

This is why there is no parking period, anywhere around Vanderbilt University.

Sorry to say, but your situation is not enforceable by private security guards. They only have jurisdiction on the property they are employed and not on the public streets.

A secretary of a church installed a no parking sign on a slot next to her church. This was for her parking next to the church’s side door. She was advised she could not do this and the sign was taken down.

This is precisely why if I ever choose to live downtown, I will buy or rent a parking garage.

@Shippy As stated above, public parking is first come first serve. My suggestion would be for you to plan ahead. There is most likely a block near you that is less busy. Park there. Take walks on weekdays and weekends in your neighborhood to scope out new places to park.

We go to the college side of our downtown at least once per week. When we go, we are patient and drive around a block or two once or twice and always find a spot in the neighborhood we wish to park in.

You may need to ask a local church or business if you could rent a spot from them. Some of the churches in our college town will allow neighbors to borrow their parking lot as long as they ask first.

@Shippy: You are not entitled to a spot any more or less than any of the other college students or faculty are. That’s why I would never rent or own a place that has no assigned parking or designated parking lot – unless it was in an area where there were tons of spots (For example, I lived in a building once that had nothing across the street, therefore, there were tons of spots all over). Availability of parking is a big issue for many renters and many would not want to live where you live with this problem. @SpatzieLover had a good idea about renting a garage or renting someone’s driveway. Otherwise, you’re SOL (Shit out of luck). Another good idea was @marinelife‘s about getting the street zoning designated to “permit only” or something like that, but that might be a long haul.

It can be regulated. In Sacramento, they issue permits to residents and they are the only ones allowed to park in front of their own home. All other cars are ticketed.

@YARNLADY I think the best thing of course is to contact our local counsel. Not an easy task but I can give it a go. I remember a similar scenario whereby, I would come home after a long day at work, and not be able to “come home”, because there was no where to park.

It somehow does not seem right.

As everyone else said already, public parking is public parking.

However…I believe some cities have a system where, say, every other parking space is restricted to people with special permits. And every homeowner is given one or two permits for those spaces on their street. You might want to go to a council meeting and suggest something like this.

Adding to what @HungryGuy said, this is why it’s beneficial to be involved with local politics by showing up at some meetings and making yourself known to the local politicians. People often think that local politics do not affect them, but they do, as illustrated here. This issue may have been brought up in past meetings, you’ll find out when you attend.

I think the only way you could get any change would be to get your neighbours on board and lobby the council to allocate some parking as resident’s only parking. I wouldn’t hold you breath on it happening though. Perhaps you can get a local councillor to move onto your street? It would happen then!