Downtown Flint, Michigan, Will Enforce Street Parking Rules

The DDA (The Downtown Development Authority) is giving a warning to all persons who use parking downtown. Effective this week, rules will be greatly enforced. On-street parking will continue to be free for one hour. However, if you stay any longer, the chances of getting a $25 ticket are high.

The DDA has two employees who are enforcing the regulations. Fliers have been placed on cars who park downtown, warning owners who outstay their welcome in the parking spot will be ticketed.

The DDA is taking proper authority in enforcing the rules and will open a new ticket bureau to take payments and handle any appeal. One of the main reasons for the enforcement is workers of downtown Flint will have to use standard parking areas, leaving the open spots for customers. The DDA will also write tickets for any other illegal parking.

How much do these other tickets cost? Parking in a restricted zone will cost $45, $70 for parking in a tow-away area, and $135 for using handicap zones illegally.

Enforcement will be patrolled during the hours of 8 in the morning to 6 at night, and hours will be extended as necessary. Anyone who gets a parking ticket can pay by mail, online, or at the parking office located on Saginaw St.

However, though tickets may be a nuisance to customers, the revenue brought in from such incidents will be helping the city build a new deck for parking to be built off Kearsley St. The construction will cost around $7 million and is planned to be built in the spring.

The reason being the DDA is strictly enforcing the parking regulations comes at a time when Flint is reconstructing many areas and projects are being completed. Workers park on the side of the streets, forcing many customers in the central area to find another parking area. The need for more parking has been a continuing issue in downtown Flint. However, businesses will be relocating after the renovating and building of decks this coming year.

"We've got some impressive developments coming to the area and they have been promised parking. The Tax Increment Financing Authority will be helping in keeping parking maintained and accessible," says the director of the DDA.

This also comes at a time when plans for renovating an old hotel downtown for UofM Flint campus students is being set in motion. The renovation will turn the old Durant Hotel into student housing in efforts to clean up the city and bring in a better population.