With thousands of students returning to campus this week, Stetson Public Safety Director Bob Matusick wants to remind faculty, staff, and students to park in their designated parking lots to avoid receiving a parking citation.

With the ongoing construction on campus, some faculty and staff have parked in areas set aside for residential students and commuter students over the summer because construction vehicles may have been using their regular spots.

“Our fear is that people have been accustomed throughout the summer of parking wherever they choose and now as students come back, we need to remind them as quickly as possible that they need to go back to their assigned areas, effectively immediately,” Chief Matusick said.

Stetson’s parking lots have color-coded signage showing where students, faculty and staff can park, based on the color of their vehicles’ parking sticker, as well as the lots designated for visitors. The Stetson Safety app has an Interactive Parking Map showing those lots, and so does Public Safety’s website.

Parking in the wrong lot can result in a $35 ticket from Public Safety. After three tickets for parking in the wrong zone, a boot will be placed on the vehicle’s tire. After five tickets, the vehicle will be towed, said Stetson Public Safety Capt. Dee Carpenter.

“It’s not our intent to penalize people,” Chief Matusick added. “It’s certainly our intent to make sure they park in the appropriate locations.”

Matusick said a few changes will take effect for the 2017-2018 academic year. The parking lot beside DeLand Hall is now designated for visitor parking, given its close proximity for people visiting the Admissions Office in the Marshall & Vera Lea Rinker Welcome Center.

Also, the fee for students to register their vehicles on campus will be $100 for the year, up from $75 last year. Students must register their vehicles with Public Safety within five days of arriving on campus, such as on Move-in Day this Saturday, Aug. 19.

“It hasn’t gone up since I’ve been here,” Matusick said about the registration fee, adding that the fees go into the university’s general fund to pay for ongoing operations.

-Cory Lancaster