2024-84

WHEREAS, Resident permit-based street parking that is both available when needed and affordable is a critical quality of life requirement for many Newport residents and homeowners.

WHEREAS, The qualifying rules and fees which govern the City's Resident Parking Program, which issues resident, non-resident and guest pass parking permits, have not been revamped since the inception of the program over 20 years ago.

WHEREAS, Availability of permit-based street parking has become extremely difficult for year-round Newport residents, in part due to issuance of many resident parking stickers and guest passes to individuals, business entities and short-term and seasonal rental operators that are not actually year-round residents, but are qualifying for parking permits under the existing guidelines.

WHEREAS, The City Administration in conjunction with this Council has identified significant abuse and manipulation of the current Resident Parking Program, due to the many loopholes and loose rules currently in place, which include allowance for unlimited parking stickers to be issued to individual property owners. In one documented case, the existing rules allowed 14 resident parking permits to be issued against a single downtown residential address that was clearly not for full time residents at that address.

WHEREAS, It is the desire of the City Council to overhaul the rules and governing ordinances of the Resident Parking Program to 1) close the loopholes that allow abuse of the program by non-resident entities 2) prioritize availability of parking spaces and affordability of fees to year-round residents, 3) charge annual fees to non-resident parking permit applicants that are commensurate with the value of the parking service supplied, 4) provide a higher level of enforcement and penalties towards resident parking violators; NOW THEREFORE, be it

RESOLVED: That this City Council requests of the City Administration and City Solicitors office in collaboration with individual Councilors to

present a revised set of administrative policies and ordinances to overhaul the City's Resident Parking Program; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED: That the ordinance revisions and administrative plans should accomplish as a minimum the following improvements,

1) The resident parking program shall prioritize availability and affordability to true year-round Newport residents.

2) That qualification as a true year-round Newport resident under the parking program be based on participation in the two-tier property tax registration program or presentation of a Rhode Island driver's license with a Newport address aligned to any vehicle license plate to be registered under the program, or other means that clearly and unambiguously determine full time residency.

3) Implementation of a two-tier fee system that maintains affordability for year-round residents, while charging non-resident entities a fee commensurate with the parking service supplied at an annual rate.

4) That caps be established on the maximum number of permits and guest passes that can be issued to a single applicant or address, based on their resident or non-resident status.

5) That there be an increase in both the intensity of enforcement and the parking ticket fees for violation of a resident parking only zone.

6) That additional revenue created from these provisions be allocated towards improvement of City roads and transportation or parking related programs; AND BE IT FURTHER

RESOLVED: That the administrative and ordinance revision proposals shall be presented to City Council within 30 days of this resolution.

MARK ARAMLI

IN COUNCIL
READ AND PASSED
AUGUST 14, 2024

LAURA C SWISTAK, CMC
CITY CLERK