The Peralta Community College District will implement a parking permit program for all drivers using district-owned lots by this summer, according to Deputy Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, Greg Nelson. This will be the first time the district will collect parking fees from students since summer 2020.

According to Interim Executive Director of Public Safety, Abdul Pridgen, the district will begin the new program with parking permits for employees by March 2. All Peralta employees will be able to park on district-owned lots free of charge.

Berkeley City College is the only campus that does not have district-owned parking spaces.

Beginning this summer, students will be required to pay a $35 fee per semester and $17.50 during summer session to obtain a permit. Visitor passes for parking will also be available for a $2 daily rate.

According to Nelson, there will be a limited number of district owned parking lot spaces that will be available free of charge on a “first come first serve” basis.

During a security presentation on Jan. 16 at Laney College, Pridgen stated that parking will remain free for students and citations will not be enforced this semester, excluding violations of city rules. He added that his main focus right now is to “educate” the community about the parking program.

“We haven’t had a parking program for almost five years,” Pridgen said. “We don’t want to just start penalizing people.”

Permit Fees, Citations and Compliance

Peralta’s Planning and Budgeting Committee approved updates to the district’s administrative procedure for parking regulations at their regular meeting on Feb. 20. Nelson stated at that meeting that in the coming weeks, the updates will be presented to the chancellor and Board of Trustees for final approval.

According to the updated draft of AP 6750, permit prices will be listed online and “any increase to parking rates is subject to review” by shared governance and approval by the Board of Trustees.

The district will use iParq, an online parking software system, to manage permits and citations. All drivers will be required to register their name and vehicle with iParq in order to obtain a permit. In late August, the board approved a $150,600 contract with iParq for the purchase of a three year subscription.

In a text message to The Citizen, Nelson wrote that student and employee permits will be directly tied to their Peoplesoft accounts for identification. Peoplesoft, owned by Oracle, is Peralta’s internal management software that hosts human resources, finance, and student portal systems.

Nelson also said that because parking and driving is not “mandatory,” fee waivers would not be provided by the district. In a text message to The Citizen, Nelson added that student support programs can help offset the price of parking but it will be “up to each individual program” how aid will be administered. students who wish to buy parking permits must be enrolled in the current term and fulfill all outstanding payments.

Citations will be issued by the department of community safety and Peralta-contracted security guards. According to Nelson, a citation payment plan will be made available to help students pay off fines.

Initial fines can range from $37 to $330. Unpaid fines will accrue penalty fees after 21 and 28 days respectively. Drivers will have 30 days to pay or appeal citations.

Unpaid citations will be reported directly to the DMV. According to Pridgen, the DMV can place a hold on your vehicle registration for up to 90 days after a citation is issued.

If a driver has five or more unpaid citations, their vehicle will be immobilized or towed.

Students react to parking fees

The Citizen interviewed students at the Laney campus to hear their reactions to the new parking system. Each student who spoke to The Citizen said that they were not aware of the upcoming parking program.

Emily Orpineda, a first year nursing student, said that she drives to school twice a week. Orpineda said that she wouldn’t want to pay for parking since students “already pay for the school” with student fees.

Nina Igual, who takes classes at Laney and Merritt College, told The Citizen that it is “really irritating and unnecessary” to charge for parking. Igual called for the district to “leave [the parking lot] open” for public use.

Jamarea Walton doesn’t drive to Laney’s campus, but said he wouldn’t want to pay for a permit because of existing student fees. He added that he feels like the price of the permit may be too expensive.

The Citizen spoke to Peralta’s Executive Director of Marketing, Communication and Public Relations, Mark Johnson, about the mixed reactions from students. Johnson responded that parking is still free for students this semester.

According to Nelson, students were included in the Holistic Safety and Wellness Committee discussions on parking and student input was used to vote on reinstating the parking permit program.

He added that the cost of parking will be priced lower than the previous years, when parking was priced at $45 per semester in 2020.

Potential security updates not yet in motion

During the security presentation on Jan. 16, Pridgen stated that the district plans on adding additional security cameras and using “hand held [license plate reader] scanners” across the district to help enforce the parking permit program. He added that there will be an automated license plate reader camera “that looks at every single license plate of the cars that drive through the Laney lot,” noting that there have been several vehicles stolen from the lot over the past few years.

The Citizen reached out to Pridgen for more details about the license plate reader cameras he mentioned in the presentation. He told The Citizen that Peralta does not currently hold “any contracts” with surveillance companies for the purchase of license plate reader technology.

Pridgen wrote in an email to The Citizen, “License plate readers are an alternative the District may consider, but this technology has not yet been vetted through our shared governance process and has not been approved to move forward.”

According to Nelson, the district is not currently looking to purchase license plate reader cameras.

For questions about the parking program, contact [email protected].