Rexburg has heard your complaints, and is offering a new parking solution
Published at | Updated atREXBURG — For the first time, Rexburg is trying out overnight parking permits.
After receiving numerous complaints about a lack of overnight parking, the city has rolled out winter overnight parking at the Riverside Park parking lot next to Rexburg Rapids for $200 each from Jan. 8 to March 1.
One ordinance cited in the complaints is the winter ordinance that does not allow city street parking from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. from Dec. 15 to March 1 to make space for snow plows.
Lt. Kellen Whetten with the Rexburg Police Department adds that many apartment complexes don’t provide enough parking spots for their tenants, as well. Those who park on city streets overnight are subject to a $50 fine.
Whetten hopes the new overnight parking permits will alleviate some of these issues.
“(The parking permit is) basically offering a solution to a much bigger infrastructure problem,” Whetten says.
The Riverside Park parking lot will hold up to 300 parking spots. If residents fill up the spots, Whetten says the city will plow more of the parking lot to offer more spots.
“This is just a trial basis of trying to accommodate all these 20-some-odd thousand students that come into Rexburg for the winter semester,” Whetten said. “There’s just no more parking available anywhere.”
Normally, residents can reserve city parking permits online, but since the overnight permits rolled out so quickly, residents need to purchase their overnight permits in person at the Rexburg Police Station at 25 East Main Street.