STATE COLLEGE – Some major parking changes are coming to State College, affecting overnight parking during big game weekends.
State College Borough Council voted Monday night to launch a pilot program requiring those who want to park overnight near downtown to first apply for a permit.
A lot of students aren't happy about it.
"They shouldn't have to make it such a big deal,; it's already going to be really competitive to get a spot," resident Cissandia Nighswander said.
For decades, the State College borough hasn't enforced overnight parking restrictions during football weekends and big events.
"We dealt with an issue that has come up before borough council for the last six months or so, and that is overnight parking in neighborhoods," State College Borough Council President Evan Myers said.
But that could all change soon.
The borough council voted 5-2 for the new system that would require parking permits between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. for guests in the Highlands neighborhood.
"I understand why they're doing it,” Penn State student Matthew Knittel said. “I mean, most cities you go to colleges I've been to you have to pay for parking when you're staying over a weekend."
"They don’t want their streets jammed with cars,” Myers said. “At the same time, banning parking between 2 and 6 a.m. only means between 2 and 6 a.m."
Myers and Councilman Dan Murphy voted against the proposal.
Most students we talked to are also against the plan.
"When you do go to the football games, the last thing you want to worry about is having to buy an extra permit just to have to parking spot close by when we've had this for years and I just don't see the point of it," student Nicole Ciancia said.
“I just don’t think a permit is necessary,” Nighswander said.
Student Brent Rice started a petition called "Save Overnight Parking in State College during Football Weekends."
"I wanted people to see that this is an issue that a lot of people cared about. I wanted a way to prove that to the council members," Rice said.
Since Sunday, the petition has already received more than 1,500 signatures.
There are "2,000 people in the community who care about this issue and think they made the wrong choice and hopefully they will change their mind," Rice said.
Rice says he plans to send in the petition to the mayor.
"I think more voices need to be heard as far as the college community goes," Ciancia said.
The pilot program will not affect this weekend's blue-white game. The council still has another vote for the new ordinance in the weeks coming. If the vote is in favor, then the permit requirement will be official.
The permit parking would go into effect Oct. 1, with a trial period of 18 months.
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