Parking spaces across campus are constantly in high demand, but to a select few students, the limited spaces have even followed them home.

The Greek Village parking lot, which is located directly in front of the Kappa Sigma chapter house, is an open lot to commuters and S-34 pass holders; however, there is no reserved residential parking.

According to the fraternity, up until last year, Parking Services dedicated 15 residential parking lots for the 15 brothers who lived at the chapter house. These spots were reserved with designated signs. Of the current residents, 14 out of 15 of the brothers have cars that are utilizing the Greek Village parking lot.

“It is a major inconvenience to leave during the day from the house that I live in, and come back and see cars of people who don’t live at or near our house in the spots closest to it,” said Jacob Majka, a sophomore public relations major and current resident. 

The Kappa Sigma chapter house was privately owned before Kent State bought the house in 2010, making it university property. Parking Services converted the Greek Village parking lot to a shared lot before Kent State made the purchase.

“Sometimes it is too hard to separate spaces in the middle of lots without people overflowing into spots periodically,” said Larry Emling, manager for Parking Services. “It was causing more problems than it was solving so we ended that.

“The majority of commuters park towards the other end anyhow in order to catch the bus, and the residents park toward the house. So there is a natural divide that kind of took place for the most part.”

Emling is referencing the PARTA bus stop at the far end of the Greek Village parking lot. As part of the Bus 55 Allerton Sport Complex route, a stop is in active use for commuter parking at the lot.

Without these spots that were once reserved, Kappa Sigma brothers must now purchase a commuter pass to be able to park at the Greek Village parking lot.

“We didn’t get our correct passes so we got ticketed in the beginning of the year, and instead of giving us our passes, (Parking Services) just got rid of the resident parking signs,” said Drake Williams, a junior construction management major and vice president of Kappa Sigma. “We haven’t done much because they made it more of a hassle when we had (resident parking spots) than when we got rid of them.”

Parking Services has no future plans to accommodate the residents of the Kappa Sigma chapter house, and all university parking rules will be enforced in the Greek Village lot no matter the car.   

For more information on where to purchase a parking pass visit www.kent.edu/parking/student-parking.

Alex Tinline is the parking and transportation reporter. Contact her at [email protected].