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With this ordinance, privately owned parking lots and garages that choose to join the program will have limits on parking rates and fines to help protect customers from unfair or overly expensive charges. The ordinance also supports local businesses by helping keep parking spaces available and traffic moving instead of cars staying parked in one place for too long. Money collected from fines will help support Chattanooga’s electric shuttle system which provides free and convenient transportation for residents and visitors. The ordinance also creates clearer rules, better signage, and more consistent parking practices, making parking easier and more predictable for everyone.

This ordinance puts drivers first by establishing clear, enforceable protections for privately owned parking lots and garages that choose to participate in the program. Parkers benefit from capped rates and fines in participating lots/garages, no more being forced to pay for 8 to 10 hours when you only needed an hour for dinner, and all enforcement operators must be licensed, bonded at $250,000, and held to uniform standards. Required signage at all participating lot and garage entrances and exits means no more surprise charges, and a 24/7 staffed customer support line ensures help is always available. 

Functionally, the ordinance creates a legal framework that establishes consumer protections for any entity involved in parking enforcement, while authorizing the Chattanooga Parking Authority (CPA) to enforce parking violations both on-street and in CPA lots and garages. The CPA is also assigned as the licensing administrator for private operators seeking access to the enforcement mechanism, and the CARTA Board of Directors is granted authority to establish licensing requirements for those private operators.

The ordinance focuses on repeat, chronic non-payment violators rather than first-time offenders, and amnesty and voluntary payment remain the first step in the process. To be eligible for a boot, the individual must have three (3) or more tickets AND that have not been paid within 60 days.

The ordinance sets simple rules for parking prices and fines in Chattanooga. Parking can cost no more than $3.00 per hour or $18.00 per day. Everyone gets at least one hour of parking time. Parking tickets cannot cost more than $25.00, and the total cost cannot go over the daily parking limit plus $25.00. Late fees for unpaid tickets are limited to $20.00 after 30 days.

Before enforcement begins, there will be a 120-day amnesty period giving violators the opportunity to resolve unpaid parking fines in a few different ways.

1.     Discounts

2.     Hardship program

3.     Food For Fines program

www.chattanoogaparking.com/amnesty-program