Swamped, City Staff Extends Expired Preferential Parking Permits as They Work to Issue New Ones

Pasadena residents and visitors whose parking permits have expired as of July 1 may have to wait until after the end of the month before they are issued new permits under Pasadena’s Preferential Parking program, as the City’s Parking Manager assured residents current permits have been extended.

The City of Pasadena’s Parking Division has announced it is extending the deadline for applying for new permits for the coming year until July 31, in order to allow more time for processing before release.

The division decided to extend the application deadline after lines of people started forming at their office during the last two days of June to fill out the forms for the new permits, and swamping city staff with both walk-in inquiries and phone calls asking why permits hadn’t been mailed.

A sign on the parking office on Walnut Street already shows the notice of extension, but there was no other information on the department’s website announcing the extension.

Jon Hamblen, Pasadena’s Parking Manager, said the office tasked with receiving applications for new permits is in a bit of a bind and asked for the extension. He said the extension means they will also be extending the effectivity of permits issued last year until July 31.

“Part of the delay is staffing-related,” Hamblen said. “The demand for the time-limited preferential parking districts have gone up. We’re getting more applications, a lot more than we anticipated.”

Hamblen said there were no technical or equipment-related issues for the delay, but he admitted the office ordered an excess of blank permits last year, more than was needed, and figured they would cut back this year to avoid wastage. The effect was the division ended up not ordering enough this year, another factor leading to the delay.

“We just put in a second order and they’ll be here next week,” Hamblen said. “I think the lesson learned for me is that we really need to anticipate starting this process sooner.”

Hamblen said they are also considering staggering the expiration dates of the parking permits so not everybody will be coming in all at the same time to apply for new permits.

For more information about Pasadena’s parking permit programs, visit www.cityofpasadena.net/transportation/parking-services.