Chester police to relaunch paper parking tickets; department targets June 1 rollout

City of Chester — The City of Chester Public Safety Committee on an informational agenda heard the police commissioner describe plans to reintroduce paper parking tickets across city areas not covered by the city’s contracted premium-parking operator, with an estimated rollout during the week of June 1 pending final ticket design and vendor work.

The commissioner called the change a visibility and quality-of-life measure, saying physical tickets show the public that the city is enforcing rules rather than relying solely on state citations. "If just reimplementing paper tickets is the answer, I'm all for it," the police commissioner said. The committee was told the change would apply to non-premium residential areas currently outside the enforcement zone of the city's contracted parking manager, Premier Parking.

The relaunch aims to address violations the department said it sees most often and that are covered by the city code identified in the meeting as "5-11," including standing/parking too close to a fire hydrant, parking within a crosswalk or too close to a corner or driveway, blocking the street, parking on the sidewalk, overnight commercial vehicles, and parking in spaces reserved for disabled drivers. The commissioner said ordinance fines in place since about 2021 range from roughly $25 to $75, with hydrant violations typically the most expensive.

The department explained why it prefers city-issued paper tickets to the current practice of…