Why Did I Get An Overtime (OT) Parking Ticket: Why Indeed?
The answer is because on-street parking is short-term parking, and you must have parked longer at the meter than the maximum two-hour time limit.
Downtown has a limited number of on-street spaces. Meters were installed to create turnover which enables more people to access the convenience of the public spaces by limiting the amount of time the spaces can be occupied. Rules that facilitate the turnover at the spaces are set by City Ordinance. If long-term parking is needed, by downtown employees, for example, that’s when off-street parking lots and garages should be the choice.
Every parking meter has a 2-hour maximum limit. No matter how much money you put in, the meter won’t give you more than 2 hours. When you have used that 2-hours maximum, the City Ordinance dictates that you cannot re-park on the same block. So, if you had parked for 2 hours at a meter in the 500 block of Milam, for example, you would not be able to re-park on the same block.
If you pay using ParkMobile, instead of by meter, you have the option of a 3rd (bonus) hour that costs $1.50/hr. However, once you have either used the 2-hours maximum by meter, or up to 3-hours maximum by app, you cannot remain parked on the same block or zone. You can pay with either the meter or the app, but you cannot use both, in the same block/zone. You can still get a ticket with time on your meter if you have been on the same block for more than 2-hrs (feeding the meter). The ordinance does not prohibit you from moving your vehicle and parking on another block/zone (600 block of Milam, for example) for either another 2-hour maximum by meter, or up to 3-hrs maximum by app.
The same principle applies to the limited number of on-street, Handicapped parking spaces. These spaces are free, but they have a 4-hour maximum time limit. Once you have used that 4-hour maximum, you cannot repark on the same block. You can, however, move your vehicle and park at a meter or 4-hour handicapped space on another block. You can be ticketed if you use the maximum time at a handicapped space and then move to a metered space, on the same block, or if you use maximum time at a metered space and then move to a handicapped space, on the same block.
For more information or a copy of the City Ordinance, call our office at 318-222-0290.
Two hour parking limit.
Four hour parking limit at handicapped parking space.
