area, individuals will generally prefer to park on the street when possible as it often affords greater
proximity and line-of-site travel paths to most destinations than off-street options.
When the density of a community reaches a point where competition for curbside parking begins ta create
conflicts with various constituencies, municipal leadership typically begins to impose rules and regulations
to assure fair and equitable access to all constituents to this limited resource. These rules and regulations
often begin as time iimits imposed to assure reasonable turnover and availability of curbside parking ina
particular area during periods of heightened demand. As density continues to grow in the area and
competition increases, the community may migrate to a system of metering which places a financial cost
on accessing curbside spaces, further reinforcing the community's desire to create turnover of these
spaces by adding an entry cost (i.e., the meter fee) to a penalty {i.e., the fine for failing to pay the meter
and/or exceeding posted time limits or other regulations).
A community may also elect to manage and regulate access to and use of curbside parking through a
parking permit system. This system ailaws the municipal leadership to define who may use curbside
parking in a particular area under different conditions by requiring individuals wishing to park on the street
to register their vehicle with a public agency and abide by a particular set of regulations. These programs
provide a number of benefits which include:
1. Improving the effectiveness of parking enforcement. When a particular area is designated as
parking by permit only and participants are required to identify their vehicles in a prescribed
manner, it makes it much easier for parking enforcement officers to find unauthorized vehicles
and cite them.
2. Expediting communications between program participants and the municipality. By registering
for the program with the municipality, the individual participants provide current contact
information to the municipality which can speed communication when conditions occur which
may require clearing the streets within the area, such as snow emergencies or scheduled street
maintenance.
3. Improving security within the district. In addition to making it easier for parking enforcement
officers to identify scofflaws, parking permit programs also make it easier to identify individuals
parking in an area for reasons beyond evading parking regulations.
Most municipalities of any size or density which allow for overnight parking on public streets typically do
so within the framework of a parking permit program for the preceding reasons. These programs are often
structured as “Residential Parking Permit” (RPP) programs, but may go by other names as well. Some of
these programs require a permit to park on the street on a 24/7 basis, while others are only in effect
during overnight hours and/or weekends. The first type of program is common in areas that are comprised
solely of residential land uses while the second is more common where residential units share a district
with other land uses.
Parking permit programs may be established in areas adjacent ta commercial districts to prevent
individuals seeking to avoid time limits and/or meter fees imposed within those commercial districts from
migrating to the adjacent neighborhoods. Alternately, parking permit programs may be established in
commercial districts where time limits and/or metering are already in place, but may only be in effect
when active enforcement ends for the posted time limits and/or metering. In mixed-use neighborhoods
where residential is the dominant land use, but there are retail establishments and/or restaurants, it is
