NIU decided Sunday that vehicles found driving or parking on sidewalks and grass areas will be ticketed.

After feedback from the Campus Parking committee, Student Association and University Council, parking and driving regulations will not only be enforced for vehicles in grass and sidewalk areas, but also for NIU vehicles that park in service space for an extended period of time, according to an NIU Today article.

Vehicles found in violation of this rule would be issued a “no parking zone” ticket, said Kristin Mommsen, director of parking services, in an email. The tickets carry a fine amount of $50, though the fine is only $25 if the ticket is paid within 48 hours of being issued.

Complaints about university vehicles driving and parking in areas other than roads first came from the Student Association Senate.

SA Senate Speaker Austin Quick said he originally noticed the problem when several students brought up the issue with him. He said many students reported having to maneuver around vehicles on sidewalks when heading to class.

Quick said he took pictures of vehicles parked on the grass along with pictures of potholes and divots to show damage. He made a PowerPoint presentation with 15-20 pictures he took of university vehicles intruding in unauthorized areas and emailed it to the parking committee, NIU President John Peters and Brian Hemphill, former vice president of student affairs and enrollment management.

“To my knowledge and what I was told is that people then started forwarding it to other people,” Quick said. “The PowerPoint became viral around campus.”

The SA Senate passed a resolution to prevent university vehicles from being in sidewalks and grass areas on Dec. 4.

Mommsen said the SA resolution supported parking enforcement of university vehicles parked illegally around campus because of pedestrian safety concerns. Another concern was potential damage to sidewalks and grass that would negate the campus beautification efforts.

Certain vehicles can get special permits to access sidewalks, like vehicles needing to fix plumping problems with no other way to access a building except to drive the vehicle closer to the building, Quick said. NIU craft vehicles will continue to have access to service spaces, the NIU Today article said.

The rules concerning parking and access for university vehicles were already there in parking services regulations, Quick said.

“There was a policy but no one enforced it,” Quick said.