Frequently Asked Questions

Section 58-103 of the City Code states that the City Council can establish a permit parking zone if they adopt a finding that the occupants of dwellings in a residential area do not have adequate on-street parking. The City Code does not set any objective criteria for making this determination and leaves the decision completely up to the City Council on a case-by-case basis. The City currently has three permit parking zones: 

1. The permit parking zone by McMorrow Field was established sometime in 1984 or 1985 but the records are unclear about the exact date of implementation.

2. The permit parking zone on 6^th Avenue North was established in July of 1993 by City Council vote. The zone was expanded in November of 1993 which set its current boundaries.

3. The permit parking zone by McGuire Field at Lorraine Park was established on March 20, 1995  by City Council vote. The zone was expanded on June 5, 1995, which set its current boundaries. This permit parking zone has unique signage stating that a permit is only required during ballgames.

The City’s permit parking program operates in a very informal manner. There is a roll of parking permit stickers at the front counter at City Hall. Anyone who can prove that they live in one of the 3 permit parking zones is given up to 4 parking permit stickers for free to do whatever they want with. They can stick the permits in their own car’s window or give them to a friend to stick in their car’s window as guest parking. Parking permit stickers do not expire, so any car with an SSP parking permit in its window can park in all 3 zones for life, even if the resident no longer lives in a permit parking zone.

All records related to parking permits are handwritten and kept in a 3-ring binder that appears to be several decades old. Because parking permits are issued for life and do not require annual renewal, it is impossible for City Staff to know which properties have active parking permits and which properties do not since residents move and/or replace cars without informing the City.

City Staff visited the permit parking zone near the high school and the permit parking zone near McMorrow field on different days in 2024, both on school days and on non-school days. None of the cars parked in the permit zone near McMorrow Field were displaying a permit. Less than half of cars parked in the permit zone by the high school were displaying a permit on the days that Staff visited. 

The permit requirement near McGuire Field is only in effect during ballgames. The permit parking signs near McGuire Field result in ballgame attendees parking in front of houses just outside of the permit parking zone instead of parking within the zone. This is causing frustration for some residents who live just outside of the permit parking zone, and they have complained about this being unfair.

Very few communities in the Twin Cities metro operate on-street permit parking programs in residential areas. Residential permit parking programs are generally a “big city” solution for managing parking conflicts. Most cities with large permit parking programs charge an annual fee to cover the administrative costs of issuing and tracking parking permits. Minneapolis and Saint Paul each have a large number of permit parking zones and both cities charge $25 per year for each car that needs a parking permit. Residents living in permit parking zones in Minneapolis and Saint Paul must also purchase additional parking permits each year if they want their guests to be able to park on the street. 

Most suburbs in the Twin Cities use restricted parking signage to regulate the areas near their high schools instead of operating a permit parking program. Some examples of signs that communities put up along residential streets near their high schools include:

West Saint Paul: “No Parking 8 AM-2 PM. Local Residents Exempt”

 North Saint Paul: “Resident Parking Only This Block on School Days 7 AM to 3 PM”

Cottage Grove: "Resident Parking Only- 7 AM to 2:30 PM, Mon thru Fri, During School"

South St. Paul’s permit parking program is proposed to be retired this year for three main reasons: 

1. Most of the permit parking signs in SSP are decades old, badly faded, and in need of replacement. This is a good time to reevaluate the permit parking program before the City incurs the expense of fabricating and installing new signs.

2. Two of SSP’s three permit parking zones were established in the 1980’s and 1990’s in response to very specific conditions in neighborhoods that were next to busy city parks. Both parks have different usage conditions today and both parks have had their parking lots expanded in the years since the permit parking zones were created. In the case of McGuire Field, the permit parking signs are causing unintended problems. The signs are pushing ballgame attendees to park just outside the permit parking zone and walk to McGuire Field which is causing neighbors to complain about unfairness since some blocks have permit parking signs and others do not. 

3. Regarding the high school area, most of the same benefits of permit parking can be achieved by putting signs up along 6^th Avenue North that restrict parking to block residents during school hours. This type of signage can be enforced by the Police Department in response to complaints, so nothing will really change from the status quo. Most high schoolers do not want to get a parking ticket and will respond to restricted parking signs in the same manner as they would respond to permit parking signs.

The permit parking rules are enforced by the South St. Paul Police Department, but these rules are only enforced in response to complaints. Police Departments are not staffed to proactively monitor permit parking zones and most residential permit parking zones in the Twin Cities operate largely on the honor system with enforcement only done in response to complaints. Even Minneapolis and Saint Paul’s residential permit parking programs do not bring in nearly enough money with their $25 annual fees to cover the cost of proactive enforcement. 

McMorrow Field was redone following the 2014 parks referendum and now has much more off-street parking and no longer has softball facilities. The McGuire Field parking lot at Lorraine Park was expanded to add an additional 30 stalls in 1995 and now features 62 stalls total. This expansion took place three months after the permit parking zone was initially established. 

The City Council will vote on whether to de-establish the three permit parking zones at an upcoming meeting this spring or summer. If the three zones are officially de-established, Public Works will remove the existing signs and install new restricted parking signs near the high school.

Permit parking programs can be appropriate in residential areas with a severe parking shortage but there is no such parking shortage in any of SSP’s three permit parking zones. Even in areas where permit parking does make sense, this type of program benefits specific households at the expense of other households, and it requires City resources to manage. At a minimum, a permit parking program really does need to cover its own administrative costs (street sign replacement, permit printing and issuance, tracking of permits, etc.). If residents feel strongly that the permit parking program needs to be continued, City Staff can explore what it would take to overhaul the program and make it cover its own costs. Most likely, that would mean at least a $25 annual fee for each car that needs a permit and additional charges for guest parking permits. This could be a financial burden for some households and could be hard to justify when there is not a documented parking shortage in any of SSP’s three permit parking zones and high school parking issues can easily be addressed with signage.