Lansing City Council to decide on overnight parking 

FRIDAY, Dec. 13 — The Lansing City Council is poised to vote Monday on legislation that would beef up parking enforcement and charge residents an annual fee for the right to park overnight on local streets. 

The City Council’s Public Safety Committee met yesterday to patch together the final draft of new parking rules to ramp up enforcement of the citywide ban on street parking from 2-5 a.m. and offer residents a $125 permit allowing them to leave cars parked on city streets all year long. 

The proposed ordinance heads to the City Council for passage at its final meeting of the year at 7 p.m. Monday. Local residents will have a chance to weigh in before the vote. If approved, the new rules could go into effect as early as March 2020, officials said. And here’s an overview of  the proposed new rules: 

• Those without paid permits by March should expect to receive tickets as officials bring on a new overnight parking enforcement officer. The fine would remain at $25. 
• A limit of one annual pass will be available per individual city address. The goal: Prevent congestion. But that also means everyone living in split-level homes, multi-family housing and downtown lofts — as long as they carry a different street address — will be eligible to receive an overnight parking permit.  
• Only residents who demonstrate a need for the extra space are expected to be eligible for permits. Officials said junk-filled garages and commercial vehicles at home will not be an adequate justification, but sole discretion over parking permit applications rests with the city’s office of parking services.  

• Permits will not be issued for recreational vehicles, trailers, boats or vehicles with more than two axles.  
• Four temporary permits —for overnight guests, for example  — could also be issued for any given address within the same 72-hour period. Officials expect those overnight passes to be made available for $10 a night for a maximum of three nights. The revised ordinance states $30 for three nights, but a Schor administration official said the intention was to make permits available for $10 a night for a maximum of three nights at a time. 
• A plan to offer discounted rates to low-income residents is still “under discussion” but no decisions have yet been made, officials said. As it stands, all residents regardless of income will be asked to pay the flat $125 annual rate should they apply and eventually receive the right to park streetside overnight. 
• The proposed permits would also only serve as a waiver for the city’s 2-5 a.m. parking restrictions and would carry no additional parking benefits or exceptions to usual meter fees and other fines and costs. 
• Residents would still be required to vacate streets for snow plowing or other emergency situations as mandated by city officials or else risk automatic revocation of their annual permits without notice.  

• A permit will also not guarantee or reserve the rights to any particular parking space. Officials said the goal is for residents to park within reasonable proximity to their registered address, but the ordinance doesn’t appear to specifically limit that distance or restrict where permit holders can park overnight. The ticket for violating the overnight parking ban would remain at $25.