Several residents near Scott Stadium sell parking spaces in their yards and driveways during home football games, a practice which Charlottesville officials are hoping to stop.
After issuing verbal warnings to about six residents at the last home football game Oct. 9, Charlottesville Zoning Administrator Heidi Misslbeck said she plans to cite people selling parking spaces at the Florida State game Oct. 30.
People accused of violating the ordinance face a penalty up to $100, Misslbeck said.
Director of Neighborhood Planning Jim Tolbert said selling parking spaces violates Charlottesville zoning ordinances.
Residential properties are "not for commercial enterprises of any kind," Tolbert said.
Shirley Cauley, president of the Jefferson Park Avenue Neighborhood Association, said she got City Council members and police officers to observe the congestion in the residential areas caused by people selling parking spaces in their front yards.
Squeezing as many as 20 cars on a front yard "decreases property values and destroys lawns," Cauley said.
All of the additional traffic from residents selling parking "is a hardship on the neighborhood," she said.
In an effort to end the parking violations, city officials said they intend to inform residents about the ordinance and their plans to enforce it more strictly.
"I am very concerned that everyone be advised," Misslbeck said.
Finding parking near the stadium has become even more difficult because of the stadium expansion, which has broken football attendance record this year.
"We're concerned that the stadium expanded without [creating] additional parking," Misslbeck said.
Charlottesville director of communication Maurice Jones said city officials received complaints from neighborhoods near the stadium about problems created by people selling parking spaces.
Parking problems will be somewhat alleviated next fall with the opening of a parking garage adjacent to the stadium.
Richard Laurance, director of the Carl Smith Center Expansion at Scott Stadium, said the 600-car parking garage would provide a net gain of 250 spaces.
Now, construction materials are being consolidated to open up more space for parking, Laurance said.
City and University officials also said another solution to the parking crunch is to continue promoting satellite-parking options. There are plenty of locations to park, although they are not right next to the stadium, Jones said.
People park on resident's yards "for convenience, not not having other opportunities to park," he said.
To help generate more satellite parking, the city began a Tailgating Downtown program, he added.
Under this program, the city charges people $2 to park in downtown garages and $1 per person for shuttle service to and from the game.
Over 1,000 people have used this service so far this year, Jones said. Almost half of the customers were from the Oct. 2 Virginia Tech game.
Buses pick up people every six minutes on game days from the Downtown Mall, he added.
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