Student Parking Parking FAQ

Before the vehicle is brought to the campus!

The request application (see How to Request a Permit) is activated for the subsequent academic year after the conclusion of the Spring semester, and it remains active for the entire academic year. We urge students to request or reserve permits as early as possible because the number of allocated permits is limited. The earliest date is sometime in May, and the Housing & Parking Office notifies all students by email when the request application is operational. Sophomores who may not reach the requisite number of units to qualify for the Restricted permit are urged to wait until their recent units have been posted by the Records Office.

On the first day in the academic semester in which the vehicle is brought to campus.

Vehicles parked or operated on campus, or in the vicinity of the campus, must have a valid temporary permit or semester decal displayed at ALL times. We require a current, valid parking permit to be displayed on every vehicle which is parked or operated on campus by a student, but our concerns go beyond the campus boundary. Students who park or operate a vehicle in the vicinity of the campus are also subject to citation, if they violate Westmont's vehicle regulations. We have special concerns about vehicle use in this community, and we expect students to use good judgment and take the vehicle regulations seriously.

Students who request and reserve prior to August will pick-up their parking decal at their mail slot in the Westmont Post Office. 

Decals which are not picked up remain on file as reserved permits, and students will not be refunded after the 10th week of the semester for an un-used permit.

It depends. 

The number of Restricted permits made available depends upon two factors: projected parking space on campus, and whether or not road usage by the Westmont community can handle more vehicles in the area. We typically grant 50 requests by sophomores, and sometimes more. We may be able to offer a small number of additional Restricted permits a few weeks after the start of the semester, but that cannot be determined in advance.

Sophomores should not bring vehicles to the Santa Barbara or the campus unless they have requested a permit online AND they have been notified by the Housing Director that their request/appeal has been granted.

Contact the Housing & Parking Office (housing@westmont.edu) for assistance!

You should contact the Housing & Parking Office before proceeding to request a permit. Eligibility is primarily based upon academic criteria, and your eligibility may be affected by coursework which has not yet been recorded by the Records Office.

• If you are in your second year of college but do not have the requisite number of units on your Westmont record to qualify for a Restricted permit (i.e. 26-58 units), you should ask the Housing Director for eligibility based upon alternate criteria (i.e. semesters attended full-time in college after your high school graduation year).
• If you are in your third year of college but do not have the requisite number of units on your Westmont record to qualify for a Regular permit (i.e. >58 units for a Fall permit; >72 units for a Spring permit), you should ask the Housing Director for eligibility based upon alternate criteria (i.e. semesters attended full-time in college after your high school graduation year).

Yes. A separate, supplemental decal is required to park in the two GLC lots. A limited number of GLC decals is offered to GLC residents, but not to every resident in the GLC. If you are a GLC resident and you do not have a GLC decal, you may not park in either GLC parking lot (i.e. near VK and Armington).

The cost for a permit is posted to the student's account. No payment is required at time of request, or at time of pick-up.

A semester permit must be cancelled in writing by email to the Director of Housing & Parking. Here is how refunds are determined:

• FULL refunds only apply when the permit is cancelled prior to the start of the semester.

• PARTIAL refunds are based upon the week in which the reserved or issued permit has been cancelled. Partial refunds are pro-rated for the first 10 weeks of the semester (i.e. 10% cost per week whether actually issued or held on reserve). No refunds after the tenth week. A full-semester permit is any valid permit for 10 or more weeks. If a student qualifies for a permit after the semester begins, they are billed based upon the number of weeks left in the semester: if at least 10 weeks, the full amount is billed.

Motorcycles and scooters need to have a valid permit to be parked on campus. They must also have current registration with the DMV. These permits are billed at 1/2 the cost of regular permits. Students are not allowed to have both a vehicle and a motorcycle/scooter on campus.

Please be sure to request your permit by the communicated deadline. Parking motorcycles or scooters in bike racks is prohibited.

Unpermitted motorcycles/scooters will be given citations and possibly have a "boot" placed on the tire if we are not able to identify the owner. Please contact Housing & Parking with any questions!

Answer: Due to our Conditional Use Permit (CUP) with Santa Barbara County, we have certain restrictions that allow us to operate as a college in our residential Montecito neighborhood. Not granting first-year students parking permits is one of these CUP restrictions, except for verified disability approved via the Office of Disability Services. If working with ODS, please be aware parking permit request deadlines and still apply. There is a limited supply of permits allowed each semester; even if a student qualifies due to a disability, a permit must be available or the request will be denied.

The C.U.P. states that a first-year student is only eligible for a parking permit if he or she is disabled, or he/she has been approved to reside off-campus by Housing and is commuting from home. The Housing & Parking Office is not qualified to make medical evaluations, so disability must be determined and verified by the campus doctor at the Campus Health Center or the Office of Disability Services. Students with transportation needs may contact the Campus Health Center (x6164 during the academic year) to inquire about eligibility for a medical permit, or other transportation options which may be available through the Campus Health Center. It is extraordinarily rare for first-years to be allowed to reside as off-campus commuters, but if this is approved by the Housing & Parking Office such a first-year would be eligible to obtain a permit from the Housing & Parking Office.

If the vehicle will be operated by a first-year student on the campus or in the Montecito area, it would be a violation by that first-year student.

No. This would be a direct violation of our C.U.P. with the county of Santa Barbara.

Yes, except during Christmas holiday and Spring recess. Students may park on campus without a permit during Christmas holiday and Spring break.

No parking permit is required during Mayterm or the summer period.

Students who wish to leave a vehicle on campus for any portion or all of the summer period should contact William Boyd, Chief of Campus Safety, for information. Scheduled repairs for the parking lots during the summer will not be known until April. Vehicles should not be left on campus without arranging this in advance with Willam Boyd (wboyd@westmont.edu).

It depends.

If you are an upper class student who brings a vehicle to campus the first week of school BUT are not able or planning to obtain a semester permit, you should obtain a short-term temporary permit from the Housing & Parking Office in Kerrwood Hall until you can remove the vehicle.

If you are a first-year student, you are prohibited from getting any type of permit. If you bring a vehicle, it must be removed from campus before the semester commences. The vehicle may not be parked in the vicinity of the campus, as this is a violation of our agreement with Santa Barbara County.

Yes. Permits are not required the last week of residence each semester (i.e. from the last day of classes in the semester until the residence halls close). Any student may bring a vehicle to campus at the end of the semester (i.e. finals week) for the purpose of transporting home.