[1]Students can park overnight free of charge with a ‘park and party’ permit. Photo by Sophie Dudley, QNet News
By Sophie Dudley [2]
BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College’s student government will be increasing its advertising for a special parking permit for Thursday pub nights.
The free permit allows students and guests to park on the college campus overnight after the Shark Tank Pub closes. The permit lasts until 11 a.m. Friday morning.
While the program has been in place for a decade, many students aren’t aware it exists. Loyalist College graduates, Taylor Bartley and Samantha Tryntje, say they wish they would have known while they attended the school.
“Both my friends and I had guests attend pub a couple times but weren’t able to make it to the school in time to get a visitor’s pass. If you parked in visitor parking overnight you got a ticket,” said Bartley. “It would’ve been useful to know about this permit if it did, in fact, exist last year.”
“I graduated in 2016 but attended from 2014 to 2016. I think it’s bullshit that no one knew about it,” added Tryntje. “I had friends that actually got tickets because of this. How is someone supposed to know a program when there’s literally no advertisement?”
In an effort to remedy this, the ‘park and party’ [3] permits will be advertised through the college’s social media channels and across campus, says executive director of student life and leadership, Fred Pollitt.
Pollitt said they were first introduced in an effort to help prevent drinking and driving.
“We want students to feel that there’s no penalty for leaving their car here. They can be assured their car will be safe,” Pollitt said.
Allen Magee, chapter president with MADD Quinte [4], said that while the rate for youth drunk driving incidents are quite low for the Quinte area, he agrees with the program.
“Anything we can do to keep numbers down is a good idea,” he said.
Magee said he hasn’t heard of another option like this in the city, but that the Belleville area could benefit from more permit programs. “Anytime you can leave your car somewhere safe overnight… I think people will utilize that.”
Shark Tank Pub bar supervisor, Olivia Millard, also thinks the parking permits are a positive idea.
“It’s a great way to not have to worry about your car. It’s a free overnight pass so you don’t have to worry about getting a ticket,” she said.
Pollitt went on to explain that the college also offers a “Cab It” voucher – where the school pays for a student to get home safely in a cab, with the promise that the student will pay back the school within a few days. Students are required to leave their ID with a Shark Tank Pub staff member as collateral and will only get it back once they reimburse the school for the price of the cab fare. Students won’t be allowed into pub nights until the fare has been repaid.
[5]Copy of ‘Cab It’ voucher available free of charge for Shark Tank Pub guests. Courtesy of Loyalist College Student Government.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said incorrectly that when students use Cab It vouchers, they are required to leave their ID with a student government member. In fact they leave the ID with a Shark Tank staffer.