Salem transportation staff report wider online uptake and mixed enforcement results after switch to license-plate permits

Salem transportation staff reported to the Committee on Ordinances, Licenses and Legal Affairs on Thursday that the city’s transition to a license‑plate based resident‑parking system improved online uptake and administrative efficiency but left outstanding questions about visitor passes, enforcement coverage and a small number of towing errors.

David Gutjarski, transportation director for the City of Salem, told the committee the city moved to a license‑plate system on July 1, 2024, and migrated existing permits into the new system. He said the city shifted from 90% in‑office permit purchases to about 93% online after the migration, which “freed up more time so that we could focus on more specialty cases like that” and reduced in‑person traffic at the parking office.

Gutjarski gave a multi‑year overview of permit and citation trends. He said that, in the review period beginning Nov. 1, 2022, the city issued over 5,000 permits (resident and visitor combined) and that most had previously been bought in person. Since the 2024 transition and outreach (mailers, bilingual flyers and email reminders), staff were able to renew a large share of year‑round permits outside the fall rush, and fewer customers have required in‑person help.

On enforcement and citations, Gutjarski said annual citation counts fluctuate and that implementation of license‑plate readers (LPRs) has not produced a steady decline in tickets. He said some October citations decreased and noted an LPR deployment date in his slides; overall annual totals remain similar to recent prior years. Gutjarski also reported a small number of towing incidents tied to data entry errors: “out of 237, 5 were that we were made aware of were residents, where there was a mistake,” he said, describing cases in which plates were entered incorrectly in the enforcement system.

Councilors pressed staff on specific issues. Councilor Harvey asked whether home health aide passes can be processed online; Gutjarski said such passes are usually handled by phone because employers call to provide plates and staff enter them. Councilor Cohen proposed investigating some kind of hybrid physical placard or scannable tag visitors could use; staff said they were not familiar with an off‑the‑shelf placard that would integrate with the LPR system and would research possibilities but cautioned that physical placards can be transferred and were one driver for moving to plate‑based administration.

Several councilors said neighbors still find visitor parking difficult to manage in practice. Councilor Jerzlo said many residents are “reluctant to call the police” about suspected misuse and urged staff to explore a hybrid approach. Councilor Stott and others warned that the old placard system had been abused and said any hybrid solution should avoid returning to unmanageable levels of misuse.

Members of the public who testified during the committee meeting echoed calls for clearer communications and easier short‑term visitor options. Residents described confusion for occasional visitors, contractors and helpers who are with a resident for minutes or hours and argued a simple, quick placard or short‑grace period might reduce tickets for brief stops.

Gutjarski and parking staff acknowledged the tradeoffs: license‑plate enforcement reduces transferability and simplifies administration, but the visitor workflow remains the system’s most frequent source of calls and confusion. Staff said they will continue to refine outreach, enforcement targeting and technical options for visitor passes.

The committee accepted the presentation and, per later council committee reporting, left the matter in committee for further consideration and follow up on hybrid options and enforcement targeting.