Changes are coming to Columbus parking tickets and parking citation appeals in the new year.
This week, Columbus City Council approved a new fee schedule and new citations that will go into effect in April.
Justin Goodwin, administrator for the Division of Mobility and Parking Services of the City of Columbus, said the city's parking citations, notifications and appeals process was "somewhat outdated."
He said it has had minor updates, but hadn't had any major changes in more than 10 years. Fees also hadn't changed during that time.
The city rewrote the code to make it more accessible and focused, Goodwin said.
"We're emphasizing safety and mobility violations. We also are streamlining a lot of pieces of the code, making it easier for the average person to understand," Goodwin said.
Updated parking and safety fines
Goodwin said old ticket fees varied wildly, with some citation rates as low as $23 and others more than $60.
The new fine structure has clear tiers, with general parking violations on the low end, parking management violations in the middle, and safety and mobility violations at the top.
Safety and mobility citations are further divided into two categories: general and egregious. General violations are those that don't cause an immediate threat to motorists, like parking too close to a stop sign. Egregious safety violations include parking in a crosswalk or too close to an accessibility ramp.
"This really is an effort to modernize how we administer parking citations to make sure that we're prioritizing the most important types of violations," Goodwin said. "Not every parking violation is equal."
While some fees are higher, the city will give people longer to pay them. The timeline to pay parking tickets will be extended from 10 days to 30 days. People who pay in the first seven days, however, will pay a lower amount.
"We found for most violations, people may not get it paid in that first 10 days, but most of them, they're getting paid in that first 20 to 30 days," Goodwin said.
The new fee schedule ranges from $30 for an early payment for a general parking violation to $100 for a late payment for an egregious safety and mobility violation.
If people meet early payment deadlines, 51 of 61 possible parking infractions and 19 of 28 safety infractions will be $50 or less.
New infractions and other changes
The code updates also added two new infractions for stopping in bike and bus lanes. Code previously prevented parking in bike lanes but allowed for loading and unloading. Passenger pickup has been allowed in bus lanes.
Goodwin said the changes close loopholes in code, improve bicycle safety, and prepare for future bus rapid transit.
"We wanna make sure that folks, when they're parking or pulling over to the curb, they're doing that in a safe manner, not impeding the ability for others in the community to get around and move through our streets safely," Goodwin said.
The city will approach license plate registration tags differently. The city will issue warnings if plate registrations have been expired for less than a month. If the plate has been expired for more than a month, the city will issue a failure to register ticket. The city will do that once a month for up to three months until the issue is resolved.
"As we dug into it, we saw that a number of people are getting that ticket over and over," Goodwin said. "We really want people to make sure they're able to get in good standing with the Ohio BMV and not be a barrier to folks being able to legally drive."
Finally, the parking citation appeals process will be streamlined. Right now, there are two ways to appeal tickets, and people often are unsure which to use.
"We're gonna make that a one-step process. You can contest your ticket and go straight to a hearing," Goodwin said. "We're hoping that that's a little bit clearer for people and will eliminate some frustration."
The changes will take place in April.
