Snow Emergencies

Oakland University strives to ensure that campus parking lots remain as safe and clear of snow as possible throughout the winter months. Grounds maintenance personnel face challenges in doing so when vehicles remain parked in University lots for extended periods of time.

In order to pro-actively and more effectively maintain clean lots, the University adopted Policy 483  – Parking During a Snow Emergency – in September 2014. In essence, the policy states that during snow emergencies, all vehicles located in designated snow emergency lots must be moved to alternative parking sites.

What You Need to Know About Snow Emergencies

A snow emergency may be declared when 3 or more inches of snow have fallen or are forecast to fall on campus, as reported by the National Weather Service and/or other law enforcement weather resources.

During snow emergencies, campus community must move their vehicles from snow emergency lots to parking areas permitted by Policy 483  .

During snow emergencies, vehicles must be moved to:

  • Covered levels of the P29 and P32 parking structures (NOTE: The uncovered, top levels of the structures are not exempt from the policy and must be vacated during a snow emergency.)
  • Ann V. Nicholson Student Apartments lot
  • George T. Matthews Apartments lots
    • View on Campus Map

Vehicles left in any other Main Campus lots during a snow emergency will be impounded at the owner’s expense. OU will not assess a fine for Policy 483 violations, but retrieval of impounded vehicles will require payment of a towing fee and may also involve storage fees, charged per day.  Please contact Byer’s Wrecker Service for current fees.

Snow emergency policy takes precedence over all overnight parking designations except those in the four exempt parking areas. Hence, all vehicles in non-exempt overnight spaces, including those in P1 , P3 , and P11  must be moved during snow emergencies.

Snow emergencies will typically be in effect from 10:00 pm on the day they are announced to 6:00 am the next day. Campus administrators may adjust start and end times as weather conditions and other relevant considerations dictate.

University personnel will make every effort to announce snow emergencies well in advance of the deadline to remove vehicles from designated snow emergency lots. Multiple channels of communication will be used to broadcast these announcements, including:

  • Text messages to registered system users
  • University email messages
  • University homepage, News at OU, and Oakland University website articles.
  • University social media site postings
  • Digital signs

The declaration of a snow emergency will not necessarily indicate that classes have been cancelled or that the campus has been closed. Campus-wide cancellations and closure decisions will be made independently as outlined in Policy 482 .

Avoid Unnecessary Fines

Violations of Policy 483  will be strictly enforced. Once vehicles are impounded, no appeal process will be available.

Campus community members planning to leave their vehicles in overnight parking areas for extended periods should ensure that their vehicles are not left in designated snow emergency lots. Examples of such absences include but are not limited to:

  • Weekends
  • Holidays
  • Vacations
  • Student-athlete and athletics fan travel for competition

If campus community members are on campus later than 10:00 pm when heavy snowfall is possible, they should ensure that their vehicles are not left in designated snow emergency lots. This includes:

  • Students, faculty and staff utilizing Kresge Library
  • Students and faculty working in laboratories
  • Any campus community member taking part in an activity or event that may extend later than planned
What to Do if Your Vehicle is Impounded

Visit impounded vehicles for information on how to retrieve your vehicle.