Ready or not, new Short North parking rules take effect today

The new Short North parking plan launched today, but luckily you’re being granted a grace period if you’re still not clear on all the changes.

The Dispatch reports Columbus parking-enforcement officers will be issuing warning tickets for the next week weeks for violations of new parking regulations.

The Dispatch adds that once “enough” residents and businesses have permits, officers will begin shelling out fines. No word on the numeric value of “enough.”

The biggest change under the new plan is that all drivers are required to either buy a permit or pay for hourly parking on non-meter streets in the Short North, Victorian, and Italian Villages.

The neighborhoods are divided into five permit areas.

Visitors who don’t have a permit will have to pay $2 an hour between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and $3 an hour until 10 p.m. in three zones that border North High Street. Visitors will pay $1 an hour from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and $2 an hour until 10 p.m. in the other two zones.

Between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., only permit holders can park in those areas.

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Guests can also buy 24-hour passes for $6.

Drivers who don’t have a permit are required to pay for meter parking with the new ParkColumbus smartphone app.

Hourly parking in permit areas also requires vehicles to move every three hours, which the city will police with license plate readers.

A residential permit costs $25 a year, and each household can get two permits.

Residents who live in homes built in 2009 or later may be ineligible for a permit because the builder was expected to have accounted for parking as part of the construction, reports The Dispatch.

The Columbus assistant director for parking services told The Dispatch only 16 percent of the 6,700 households that are eligible for residential permits have acquired one so far.

Businesses can buy up to 10 permits, which range in price from $100 to $700.

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