After months of enduring dozens of illegally parked bicycles outside the South Campus Commons buildings, officials began using blow torches, angle grinders and bolt cutters to cut the bikes free yesterday.

An e-mail was sent to more than 1,800 students who lease Commons apartments, warning them that as early as 9 a.m. maintenance workers would start “cutting bikes” that were “attached to trees, staircases, building posts and signs.”

The bikes may not seem like a nuisance, but they can clutter up walkways and make them unsafe, said David Hawley, associate director of facilities for Capstone Management, which oversees Commons and Courtyards.

Any cut bicycles will be impounded for 30 days and can be redeemed with no fee, he said.

To store bikes at Commons buildings, owners must be residents of the buildings and have a permit from Capstone. The permits are handed out when students sign their leases, a process that allows building management to regulate the limited amount of rack space available, Hawley said.

But the illegal parking problem began when non-residents began chaining their bikes to Commons’ racks and overcrowding them, leaving permit holders with no place to park except for unauthorized rails and trees.

Out of the nearly 2,000 e-mails Hawley sent out, he has only received about half a dozen complaints so far, leading him to believe the initiative is well received by students.

But that’s not necessarily true, students said.

“There is not going to be enough space with the added restriction,” said Commons resident Jenna Schultz, a junior special education major. “I can only imagine that it will be more difficult to find a place to park my bike.”

But other students said they don’t mind the tightened restrictions.

Gulsah Akar, president of the Ad Hoc Bicycle Committee and the voice for bikers on the campus, said she understands the need for more rules on parking bikes.

“I think there are two ways to look at this,” Akar said. “There aren’t enough bike racks on campus, [or] people are just lazy.”

Akar also implored students to stop the unsafe practice of “leaving bikes on handicapped rails.”

If the overcrowding continues, Hawley said he will consider installing new bikes racks for Commons, as long as they don’t increase walkway congestion.

Despite mixed student reaction, Hawley said the restrictions have already made a difference.

“I can tell you that we put this notice out, and there was not one illegally parked bike when I came in today,” Hawley said.

woodhousedbk@gmail.com