Pittsburgh City Council passed amendments to the city's Residential Parking Permit (RPP) program this week for the first time in decades. For residents living in these areas, the new legislation may bring a few changes.
For visitors and non-residents:
- Residents can only have one visitor permit per unit
- Visitor permits can only be used for up to three consecutive days within enforcement hours. At least one day is needed between visits if a stay is longer than three days. The maximum allowed time one vehicle can use on a visitor permit is 12 days in a month.
- A permit can be issued to cover regular visitors to a resident if they are health-care employees (after a patient's doctor has sent a letter to confirm that in-home care is required), a contractor, a child-care worker, or a rental property owner or manager. Such visitors must register their vehicles.
- Some permit parking areas may become "hybrid" areas that include parking meters for non-residents to use, instead of being allowed to park for free for a period of time.
For short-term rental properties like Airbnbs:
- Owners must apply for an annual permit to obtain parking passes for guests
- No more than two passes can be granted to guests at any given time
- Passes will be $5 per vehicle
- Passes will be good for up to one week, but a car that receives one can not park in an RPP area for more than 8 weeks a year
New ways to apply for RPPs and visitor permits:
- RPPs, visitor and non-resident permits can now be assigned virtually and tracked digitally (though council says it will take a couple of months to get the online site up and running)
- Data entered as part of the program will not be shared with law enforcement "except as may be required by federal or state law," or to create any type of surveillance
- Visitor permit information will only be saved for up to 30 days
Costs for obtaining a parking permit remain the same at $20, with a $1 visitor permit; residents who replace their vehicles can receive a duplicate permit for the new vehicle at no extra cost. Only one permit can be issued to any given resident's vehicle, unless a resident owns a business in another permit area.
Penalties for parking without a permit over the time limit will still cost as much as $45.
