Campus Security to Report Vehicles Parked on Caldwell to Metro Police

Cars parked on Caldwell Avenue. (Nick Rampe)

Amid ongoing safety issues for pedestrians and other vehicles, the Office of Campus Security announced they will enforce reporting vehicles parked alongside Caldwell Avenue to the Metro Government of Nashville.

Chief of Campus Security, Mark Labbé, instructed Campus Security to report the license plates of vehicles parked on either side of Caldwell Avenue to Davidson County’s customer service system, hubNashville, the Nashville Department of Transportation & Multimodal Infrastructure and the Metro Nashville Police Department. 

“Since this has taken place, there’s been a lot of measures that we’ve taken. We’ll try this one for a while, and then we’ll try one for a little while,” said Labbé.

Upon request from the Office of Campus Security, Residence Life released a statement Friday warning students to promptly move their vehicles from the avenue. A miscommunication between Campus Security and Roompact’s message led students to believe Metro Nashville had “filed a formal complaint,” but this was a false statement, according to Labbé. 

“There wasn’t a complaint. It’s just an ongoing thing that we’ve been doing. They’re not going to start ticketing there. They’ve written quite a few tickets already… What we were basically supposed to say is, ‘just so you’re aware, you’re not supposed to park here’,” said Labbé. “That’s not a Belmont road, so we can't ticket there. That has to come from the city.” 

However, Campus Security officers have been in communication with Metro Nashville Police, Midtown Hills Police Precinct and the city’s parking enforcement systems to ensure vehicles are properly ticketed. 

Additionally, Labbé stated Campus Security began tracking the number of times cars have parked on the avenue, which he warns may result in a conduct issue for students.

“The one thing that is changed, that is gonna be a ramp up, is we’re gonna send it to conduct now,” said Labbé. 

Jo Jamullamudi, a Belmont junior, said that he parked infrequently on Caldwell Avenue last semester solely for convenience. 

“I probably parked 10 times, mainly because I know I have something early in the morning and it would be nice for me to come down and have my car right there without going into the garage and going up all those levels,” said Jamullamudi. 

Jamullamudi has not received a parking ticket, but he notices students, and himself, park on the avenue for short periods of time “to grab something” or “do a couple of grocery runs.”

“It’s really hard to carry your groceries from the garage to your room, especially if you need to do multiple trips making sure you’re not holding anything too heavy,” he said. 

Although he believes it is fair for students to park on the avenue for “quick stops,” Jamullamudi agrees that too many people park on the avenue overnight, stating it gets overcrowded, dangerous, and creates a “very tight squeeze between cars” that could lead to vehicle damage. 

“I respect the decision and I’ve already noticed a slight difference in the cars parked out front and the road is already feeling nice. However, I think completely removing the opportunity is hurting a lot of students that benefit from that side strip of road… the best starting solution to this should have been reinforcing that cars cannot stay overnight unless granted permission,” said Jamullamudi.

On the contrary, Jonathan Owens, another junior, and a Resident Assistant for Fannie Hewlett Hall, believes the enforcement should apply indefinitely to vehicles parked on the avenue. He calls the decision “potentially lifesaving and long overdue” for the campus community. 

“We have more than enough parking on campus, and a lack of convenient parking does not equate to no parking at all,” Owens said.

This article was written by Carla Lorretta