Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that students who park their cars on the grass and sidewalk area of West Mango Avenue will now be ticketed.

The area belongs to the city of Tampa, not Robinson, and is directly across from a branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay.

“The Boys and Girls Club are the complainants,” school resource officer Jessie Hester said. “They don’t want all those cars there from students because that area’s not designated for student parking.”

Student cars parked on the sidewalk and grass have blocked people from reaching the Boys & Girls Club, leading the organization to reach out to the city government.

“They took it upon themselves to go to the city of Tampa and make a complaint that something needed to be done,” Hester said. “So our supervisors [Tampa Police Department] are making sure something gets done.”

Lack of parking space has been a problem for Robinson students all year, with a limited number of students being issued parking passes and construction taking up space. As a result, many students began parking along Mango.

Hester recommends that students who don’t have parking passes try and find an alternative means of transportation to and from school.

“If they’re able to get dropped off by their parents, if they’re able to take the bus, if they’re in walking distance, they may have to [do that instead],” he said.