Chapel Hill resident Heather Benjamin left the Silverspot movie theater on July 27 after having seen a 7:30 p.m. showing of “Barbie” with two of her friends. As she stepped into the University Place parking lot and began looking for her vehicle to head home, she noticed something.
“Our car was parked [elsewhere], but immediately I ran into a friend of mine,” said Benjamin. “And she was in a panic because her car was already [hooked] on the tow truck. She was like, ‘I’ve got to run over the bank and get $150 or they’re going to have to tow my car down somewhere and pay them $300.”
Benjamin’s friend had parked toward the back of the parking lot on the side close to South Estes Drive along one of the recently created curbs at the end of a row of parking spots. After looking around, Benjamin slowly realized other people were emerging from the movie theater to find their cars missing from similar spots at the back of the parking lot. She said some people were initially confused, calling the police to report their cars being stolen — but when officers arrived, they alerted those drivers to the mall being private property and having the right to tow their cars.
Despite her own vehicle being parked legally, Benjamin said she stuck around to gather information for the people and to tell them about having been towed. Eventually, after the final person had gotten a ride home more than an hour later, she left. Since that night, the Chapel Hill resident has returned to University Place several times to check whether there was signage telling drivers not to park at those curbs and with more information about who to contact if they were towed. At the time, she didn’t find much.
“These people absolutely had no indication they were ever going to be charged $300 for parking at the mall in a completely legitimate – to their mind – spot, to go pay $15 to see a movie,” said Benjamin.
“And the other thing is,” she added, “the fact it happened after the sun was down [bothered me]. When I got here, I showed up early and met some friends at Hawkers for dinner. At 5:30, all of these spots were taken. Why wasn’t someone out here telling people ‘don’t park here or you’re going to get towed’? And why wasn’t the tow truck here at 5:30?”
Visitors to University Place in Chapel Hill are well aware the property is undergoing major redevelopment, as several projects are happening to overhaul the mall. While that work promises future attractions, like new buildings for retail and an apartment complex, it has led to a decrease in available parking – which culminated in the last few weeks during a spike in mall traffic.
Megan Brandenburg is one of those people who got towed last Thursday night. The Chapel Hill resident said she also arrived to the mall for a showing of “Barbie” and couldn’t immediately find a spot. She said she looked for any indicators that where she parked along one of the back curbs was an illegal spot and didn’t see any. She said she pulled into an empty space lined up with other vehicles and went into the theater to meet her husband. When Brandenburg came out, she said she was surprised and frustrated to find her vehicle gone.
As seen on Monday, July 31, the new parking medians toward South Estes Drive at University Place had no signs or markings indicating they are no parking zones. Mall management argues these areas are off limits because they restrict other drivers from leaving legitimate spots.
“Of course, [I had] the feeling of ‘should I have done something differently,’” Brandenburg told Chapelboro. “Obviously, I didn’t feel like I was making a mistake at the time when I’d parked. But clearly someone felt that I had with that move.
“There was some relief when I encountered this group,” she added about the other stranded drivers, “but a different kind of anger when I realized it felt predatory and all of these people had experienced this.”
University Place confirmed to Chapelboro that it called for an uptick in towing of vehicles illegally parked over the course of the last two weeks, which coincides with a rise of movie theater visitors. Mall management said its contracted towing service, Eastgate Towing, is called by either mall security or management whenever vehicles are parked in the fire lane or parked in non-marked spaces that hinder legally parked vehicles’ ability to exit.
University Place leadership told Chapelboro that the towing on July 27, and other recent days, stemmed from vehicles being parked in that main fire lane for hours. They said the other medians and curbs in the backside of the parking lot near South Estes Drive are considered part of the fire lane and flow of traffic, which is also why vehicles like Brandenburg’s were removed from the property.
Over the course of this week, University Place has made changes to its parking lot to better alert motorists about the fire lane and proper parking areas. On Monday, the mall had temporary “No Parking” yard signs stuck into medians and the sidewalk to draw drivers’ attention to the fire lane. By Tuesday afternoon, crews painted new, yellow lines along the fire lane near the main mall building and median curbs closest to it. By Wednesday, the temporary “No Parking” yard signs were moved to the back parking medians and curbs.
A contractor paints new lines for the fire lane along University Place’s interior road near the main mall building on Tuesday, August 1.
The difference between the older fire lane markings and the stencil of how the lettering looks once painted.
University Place also painted new fire lane and no parking lines along medians at the end of the parking rows close to the main mall building.
Brandenburg said she wishes the mall would’ve added such signage sooner, as she would not have parked where she did if there was a clear indicator. She said she doesn’t believe her experience will affect how much she comes to the mall going forward but admitted that the parking shortage – like other places undergoing development in Chapel Hill – can be a deterrent if there are other options with more spaces.
“I just think it’s really unfortunate,” said Brandenburg, “[because] people do want to support the businesses at the mall, and right now it’s in such a process of disarray. For this to happen, it doesn’t feel like the mall is being terribly supportive of their patrons.”
During a visit back to University Place on Monday, Benjamin acknowledged the changes made to the fire lane closest to the main mall building. But she maintained that more needs to be done to alert visitors about not parking along the back medians’ curbs – and added that she believes University Place owes an apology to the visitors who got towed before signage was put up.
“Because these people were so unfairly victimized without any warning or knowledge, they need to reimburse those people for the out-of-pocket expenses,” said Benjamin. “And if they really don’t want people to park along these curbs, then they need to put actual, legitimate signage up saying, ‘If you park here, you will be towed, and here’s who to call.’
“Put up some signs, paint the curbs red,” she continued. “Do something so that more people don’t fall victim to this.”
As of Wednesday, August 2, temporary “No Parking” signs were staked into the back medians where several people were towed in recent days.
There are signs at entrances to University Place off South Estes Drive, Willow Drive, and Fordham Boulevard that have information for who to call if a driver’s vehicle is towed while at University Place. Despite the sign mentioning a permit, there is no requirement of a parking permit to park at the mall property.
Ram Realty, the owner of University Place mall, shared a statement with Chapelboro on the recent parking challenges.
“We are thrilled so many visitors have come to University Place over the last week to support our theater, shops and restaurants. As redevelopment work continues on schedule, we understand that parking is constrained in certain locations, but we must maintain the safety and security of our guests by keeping fire lanes open. We have added additional signage throughout the property to emphasize that patrons cannot park in fire lanes, traffic lanes, or double-park along curbs or block handicapped spaces. We encourage patrons to utilize parking spaces on the North side of the property between Willow Drive and Fordham [Boulevard] where they can access Silverspot through the inside of the mall. We also suggest that patrons carpool, bike or use ride sharing if possible. We will continue to evaluate additional ways improve our guest experience during construction.”
Editor’s Note: Chapel Hill Media Group is a tenant of University Place, having first moved there in 2016.
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