Like It or Not, LU Owns the Parking Lot
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The News & Advance
Published: August 26, 2008
Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr.’s decision to close The Plaza to parking for the Aug. 20 Barack Obama town-hall forum at E.C. Glass High School set off a storm of protests in the community.
There were the usual suspects howling that Falwell was simply playing petty politics with local Democrats and their party’s presumptive presidential nominee. There were friends of the university, along with neutral observers, who grimaced at the sight of university police officers blocking all the entrances to the shopping center and groaned at the bad publicity the move had generated.
It turns out there was more to the story than many first thought, and that adds credence to the basis for LU’s decision.
Sure, the couple or so dozen business tenants of The Plaza have first dibs to the spaces in the lots, even the few who remain open after 5 p.m., the closing time for the majority. As their landlord, LU has to look out for their interests. (Just as an aside, The Plaza is private property, on which LU paid almost $124,000 in property taxes to Lynchburg in the current tax year.)
There’s also the vexing problem of liability the university and its legal counsel had to consider. Private parking lots are beyond the scope of law enforcement; they’re truly a legal no-man’s zone. Anyone who’s seen drivers cutting across lanes, going the wrong way to get to an open spot and just being plain stupid behind the wheel knows that’s the case.
Neither the local organizers of the rally nor anyone from the Obama front office bothered to contact LU even to inquire about the possibility of parking at The Plaza. Who would provide traffic control into and out of the site? What about clean up of the site following the event?
But, a critic might say, why not just donate the use of the lot for that one-time event?
That leads to the other major concern of LU officials: A tax-exempt organization and its officers, under Internal Revenue Service regulations, cannot make political donations of any kind. Would put the group’s tax-exempt status at risk.
Over the course of the presidential campaign, LU extended an open invitation to any and all candidates, Republicans and Democrats, to come speak at the school. Not surprisingly, the only contenders who accepted the offer were Republicans, and not all of them did. Those who did drop by the campus for a visit, like Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, either picked up their own tabs or reimbursed the school for its expenses. All above board and by the IRS’ book.
LU officials were not even given the opportunity to make a decision whether or not to allow parking on their property. If campaign officials and local organizers had checked with the property owners before saying parking would be at The Plaza, the entire mess could have been avoided.
LU may have wound up looking bad in the public’s eye, but they weren’t in the wrong.
And it bears repeating one last time, The Plaza belongs to LU to do with as they see fit.
Period.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( JacksonPollock ) on September 02, 2008 at 3:30 pm
With all due respect - have you noticed that those who are GOD FEARIN’ “let Jesussss come into your heart” posters here seem to be the least educated and the least articulate?
I’m a Christian but not a GOD FEARIN’ irritating prosyletizer who goes up to everyone I see and ask them if they are saved (frankly, it’s none of my business and that tends to irritate people - I know, because those people irritate me, and I am a Christian).
The Falwell type of “Christian” tends to make more atheists than Christians. His type of hypocritical actions (like the petty parking situation mentioned above) shows his lack of Christian grace.
Sure they own the lot, but there is a word called “charity” which they ask of others but do not practice themselves. Their actions speak louder than their “GOD FEARIN’. Let Jesussss Come Into Your Hearts” rhetoric.
They can say what they wish, but the bottom line is that they were not going to be accommodating to community members who wanted to hear a person with whom the Falwells disagree. They, basically, spat in the faces of their fellow citizens. I don’t think that is much of a “Christian attitude.“ Peace.
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Posted by ( ZIGMITCHELL ) on September 01, 2008 at 11:50 am
I’m a Christain,WHat do I mean by that,what does being a Christain mean to those who don’t know,very easly put,I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,my salvation,I believe it becuase the HOLY BIBLE says so,THE TRUE LIVING WORD OF GOD!Do I think I’m a saint, no I’m a sinner,we all are,am I better then you ?NOway , God Loves all the same no matter who we are but if you believe in his word which clearly says what he’s made up of and Thats, God The Father,The son of Man, and The Holy Spirit…...(Trinty) your life will be different!I’m a witness , my life has changed since I planted the seed of Christ in my heart..
being a Christain means we need to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so all mankind haves the Right to the Kingdom of God.(Heaven)If any one here that reads this, that would like to just chat more on this subject,please by all means email me, thats what I believe in, helping people understanding their faith and what our purpose here on earth is….WHat needs to be done, to be saved by the blood of the lamb….If you have prayer request send them as well,I’ll be glad to pray for you….....This story is old news about the parking but if it can bring one person to Christ, then there is good behind it.I don’t go to TRBC I attend The Tree Of Life Ministries,Pastor Mike Dodson, is a true pastor who loves our Lord very much and preaches the truth from the Word of God….....But I LOve TRBC because they are part of Christ, the body of Christ is the church and its believers in Jesus ,LU helps educate his word among other skills….....Praise God for such an awesome thing! A TRUE believer In Jesus Christ,Marcus
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on September 01, 2008 at 9:22 am
(novajoe)... It wasn’t a party and nobody parked an anybodies driveway. It was a widly publicized public event and the Falwell’s did exactly what they always do. They attempted to make a buck. Instead, they got a million dollars worth of bad publicity. Nobodies mind was changed on anything. From a purely business standpoint it was a very bad move. From a public relations standpoint it was too. Nobody gained a damn thing. Negative feelings about Liberty/TRBC were just reinforced. I honestly think dead Jerry would have had more sense.
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Posted by ( novajoe ) on August 31, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Easy scenario…your neighbor invites over 50 friends for a party. Your neighbor’s friends assume because there are paved driveways heading to your home and others in your neighborhood that they can park on them for the party (the neighbor never asked you or the other neighbors if they could). The day of the party arrives and you come home to your house to find that you can’t park in your driveway because your neighbor’s friends are all there. Are you pleased to be in this situation? Would you have potentially reacted differently if you had been asked by the neighbor if their friends could park there? Legality or no legality, tax exempt or not, the Plaza lot is NOT owned by the public. The entity that owns it can do whatever they want with it as long as it is within the zoning ordinances of the city.
I was born and raised in Lynchburg. I lived there for the first 21 years of my life. I don’t attend TRBC. I attended Virginia’s Boys State one year when it was held at Liberty. Why such hate (and yes it is hate) is directed at TRBC, LU and the Falwells is beyond me. What have any of these entities done to Lynchburg or those on this message board directly? Other than keep you from parking on THEIR PROPERTY? Other than bring over 10,000 students to live here (comprising nearly 1/7 of the entire population of the city). Other than bring the families of those students here to stay in hotels and buy meals, school supplies and rent apartments and homes? Shame on those people for contributing to the tax base of the Hill City. What right do they have to do these things? How dare they!
I wish Liberty could seal itself off from the entire city for just one week. No work for LU students at Lynchburg businesses and no dollars spent by students, faculty or staff in any businesses in the Hill City. I know this isn’t feasible, but I do know that military bases have done such a thing to show the locals how big an impact the base has on the economy. LU wouldn’t do such a thing, but imagine if they could….
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on August 31, 2008 at 9:01 pm
(Grandma) It has nothing to do with Liberals or Conservatives or Democrats or Republicans. The Falwellite/TRBC gang are Super-naturalists! It’s a cult. They teach their children unnatural mythology and insist it is history. REAL history has shown time and time again that people like this are dangerous. On top of all that they just give many of us the royal creeps. It’s a free country. If they can say things like God approves of them…. but not “us”.... the least we can do is return the favor.
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Posted by ( Cosmo Wafflefoot ) on August 31, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Very well put (formerlbc). The only statement I can not agree with is that it was “un-Lynchburg”. Unfortunately I find it Very Lynchburg.
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Posted by ( commonsenseplz ) on August 31, 2008 at 7:50 am
Apparently damalama has never traveled outside of Lynchburg
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Posted by ( formerlbc ) on August 31, 2008 at 3:00 am
I don’t think anyone in Lynchburg disputes that LU owns the lot or that they don’t have the right to do with it as they please.
What I have a problem with isn’t the legality of the situation - it’s how LU simply acted in an unbecoming, un-Christian manner. I imagine that many EC Glass students drove to the event and would have parked there. Many brought their younger siblings. When they couldn’t park in the Plaza, they parked wherever they could, crossing busy streets. How would the school have felt if someone had been hit?
Beyond that, however is that it’s just not in Lynchburg’s character to be this crazy over PARKING. Lynchburg has enough of it when they need it because businesses will graciously allow people to park in their lots. No $5-$10 fee. No tying chains in front of the entrance. I’ve lived in three major cities where parking IS at a premium, and even I have to say - I’ve never paid $10 for two hours of parking. I live around the corner from the Constitution Center and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia - where ALL of the candidates have come during one point or another in their campaign - and the deck directly adjacent these venues is less than what LU had determined to be “Fair Market Value.“ The cost of “renting” those spaces is absolutely ludicrous, and the “liability” issue is moot - any insurance broker or lawyer can tell you that the liability associated with chaining off property that the public perceives as public property is as great, if not greater. As the Public Library as well as GLTC uses the Plaza lot, the public perceives it to be public. Rope it off and your liability doesn’t absolve, at least not in a state such as Virginia that assesses contributory negligence. As Judge Judy says - don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining. Don’t give the 501(3)(c), liability and cost excuses - we can see right through them. It’s just being un-Christian, un-Lynchburg and downright ugly.
Yes, it was legal. Yes, they had the right to do it.
But I’d like to remind them that a legal right isn’t necessarily the same as a Christian duty.
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Posted by ( jouxster ) on August 30, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Thus private property rights need to change. Change for the better of mankind. If a politician wants to use it let him and the private owner needs to thank him and move on. Change is in the future and the old ways need to change. Lynchburg and those living in surrounding counties clinging to their guns and religion need to change. Enlightenment will come with change. Change is better than continuing the course and not changing. Besides.. It’s all Bush’s fault if you really want to know.
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Posted by ( Grandma ) on August 30, 2008 at 7:31 am
For the life of me, I cannot understand this vitriol for LU and the Falwells. No matter what topic comes up, most of you have to associate it with LU or TRBC.
Let’s face it,damalama, most college and high school students are rude and reckless; for that matter, many drivers of all ages are. As to living near them, I don’t know where you live, damalama, but I find the opposite to be true. Why do so many landlords advertise rental units in the LU newspaper?
Skeeter, why do you not want to be called liberal? Republicans are called conservatives for a reason. What would you liberals like to be called?
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