Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Downtown parking updates have been approved in the City of Howell.

City Council met Monday night and approved a traffic control order that outlines times for each public lot within the City. The lot numbers will not change, but some will now have names associated with them and some hours will be different.

The City is working to better communicate the rules and regulations for public parking lots following earlier concerns raised by residents, businesses, and building owners.

In conjunction with the new order, a moratorium has been enacted on parking enforcement from May 19th through June 30th to help educate the community. Effective July 1st, Traffic Control Order #303 will be in full enforcement status – meaning tickets.

Police Chief Michael Dunn told WHMI there’s a lot of misunderstanding and confusion about parking rules and what’s allowed and what’s not. He said they’re going to take time to put up proper signage, update maps, and put out information so everyone clearly understands what the rules are.

The formerly 8-hour lots will be free parking; people just have to move their vehicles after 48-hours. Dunn said for a lot of residents who live downtown, they can utilize those extended parking lots if they park for the weekend and then don’t have to worry about moving their vehicle.

Grand River is still 2-hour parking.

For the shorter term lots up closer to businesses, the intent for those for people to go in and shop or do business within four hours. If it’s a 4-hour per day time limit, it has to be continuous. Dunn said that means people have “one shot” to park in that specific lot for up to 4 hours, but there are other 4-hour lots available.

Dunn said there are options and parking is available – sometimes people or employees might just have to walk a couple blocks but then they don’t have to worry about moving their vehicle or being ticketed.

Dunn clarified the overnight parking in the extended-hour lots is allowed – including the new Fire & ice lot and the lot across Cleary’s. He said it’s mainly for residents and employees who might be working late at restaurants, or for those who come in early to open up their shops.

Dunn said he biggest complaint they get is for the 2-hour time limit in parking lot #2 and they are going to mark that really well. He said it is marked now but a lot of people tend to miss it when they come because they’re looking for a spot versus the signs.

During the moratorium, other parking violations will be enforced as normal and some warnings might be issued. Dunn said it’s intended to be an educational period to get the information out but come July 1st, parking lot violations will be fully enforced.

We have a link provided the current parking lot map. NOTE: it is not yet updated – the lot numbers are the SAME but the hours will be different as reflected in attached Traffic Control Order.