But the owner of the service, Chapel Hill resident Gustave Frederick Mueller, said there are no problems with his lot this year.
University police said they had not determined the source of fliers being distributed on campus, but they suspect the fliers came from Mueller, who has operated a parking lot on U.S. 15-501 South since 1995.
Last year, Mueller met with criticism from students who bought his spaces only to find that promised features were not present. He reached a $5,200 settlement with some of the students involved, who were represented by Student Legal Services. "We had a lot of frustrated people who bought parking last year and didn't feel like they got what they paid for," said Lieutenant Archie Daniel of the University police.
But Mueller said he was indeed responsible for the fliers in question and that the situation is very different this year."We made a mistake with the representation of the lot. We agreed it was a problem and refunded the money," he said. "(Claims about safety) are not on our flier this year -- there is absolutely no misrepresentation about the lot."
Mueller described the condition of his lot as a combination of gravel, grass and paving. Lights are present, but there is no security and no gates.
Even though the lot currently appears muddy and construction equipment is present on the site, Mueller attributes the condition to unrelated road work being done on U.S. 15-501.
"There is nothing wrong with our lot," he said.
Mueller said the crucial difference between last year's situation and this year's was in the way he planned to conduct business -- this year he said he plans to offer a lease that students can sign so that their money can be refunded without legal action if they are dissatisfied.
But Daniel said he would advise skepticism before signing any lease, including Mueller's. "There were a lot of promises made last year -- I suggest to people who are interested that they go look at a property before they decide whether it's worth it."
