A public hearing about the future of the Residential Preferred Parking bill in Milwaukee will be held on Sept. 14 after University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association representatives successfully lobbied that it would be unfair to take action on the bill until there was an opportunity for student input.

SA passed legislation condemning the Residential Preferred Parking bill (RPP), which is currently being considered by the Milwaukee Common Council Public Safety Committee, which would remove 721 off-campus parking spaces available to students because the same amount of spots were made available on the UWM campus.

RPP, which Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law earlier this year, would “severely limit” students’ parking options near campus and also inhibit access to higher education by giving free parking spaces to residents only, said SA president Samantha Prahl.

“It is very important for access to education and access to the university that we allow the streets to be public,” Prahl said.

The Milwaukee Common Council introduced RPP after neighborhood residents approved construction of the Klotsche Pavilion that added 600 on-campus parking spaces, said Ald. Michael D’Amato, who supports the bill.

“For years neighbors have opposed parking structures off campus,” D’Amato said. “For them it means more pollution, high speeds … In order to get on-campus spaces, neighbors need some relief.”

Students agreed to support the Pavilion with the understanding that it would also provide RPP, D’Amato said.

“In my mind it is a shirking of students’ earlier commitment to now oppose RPP,” D’Amato said.

The Milwaukee Common Council would have implemented RPP by fall semester, but SA successfully lobbied to postpone action on the bill until after classes commence.

“They tried to implement RPP during the summer while students weren’t on campus,” Prahl said. “We’re a major stakeholder and they tried to snowball it right past us.”

There will be a public hearing at 9 a.m. Sept. 14 to determine if RPP will be enforced in the UWM community. SA will be providing transportation to the hearing along with free T-shirts to unify students, Prahl said.

SA also passed the Off-Campus Acquisition Act after Milwaukee County refused UWM a renewal of its lease on the Bradford Beach and Northpoint Snack Bar UPark lots, said SA vice president Jon Tingley.

The new act demands that the UWM administration “seek and acquire land or leases for additional off-campus UPark lots.”

The decision to close the Bradford Beach and Northpoint Snack Bar lots was ultimately a county decision and not a city decision, said D’Amato, who opposes the closure of the two lots.

“I fought hard in order to open those lots up for the use of students, but the lease agreement is not with the city of Milwaukee, but Milwaukee County,” D’Amato said. “I have written a letter in conjunction with SA asking the county executive not to cut any more UBus lines because I think they are extremely important for students to get to campus.”

D’Amato also said that the Common Council has encouraged UWM officials to approach the Summerfest grounds and Miller Park for possible UPark lots, but no action has been taken.

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