Newport council workshop lays out broad overhaul of resident parking sticker program

A City of Newport workshop on the resident parking sticker program presented staff recommendations to simplify eligibility, cap sticker issuance, strengthen enforcement and bring guest-pass rules under the same review as resident permits.

Jim Nolan, the city's director of finance, who led the working group, said the program's long-running definition of "resident" is confusing and has enabled unintended outcomes. "Current definition of resident in our current program is a resident means any person, firm or corporation…" Nolan said, noting the DMV tax roll that previously fed the database is no longer available and that in March 2024 the city mass-mailed 14,093 stickers. Nolan said the working group found commercial properties and short-term rentals receiving multiple passes under existing rules and proposed moving from household- or ownership-based rules to an individual, affidavit-based system.

The proposal would create two resident categories: Category 1 for primary residents (and active-duty military stationed in Newport) and Category 2 for shorter-term tenants or certain nonresident owners. Under staff suggestions each eligible individual would be entitled to one free primary-vehicle sticker, with an additional secondary-vehicle sticker available at council-determined cost. "The database we are currently using… is not updated because we don't have those tax rolls," Nolan said, calling the current program "a mess" that is "prone to abuse."

Enforcement and technology were central themes. Police Chief Ryan Duffy and enforcement staff recommended more-visible parking enforcement, additional staffing in peak months, and adoption of license-plate readers as a force multiplier. Chief Duffy described how readers mounted to enforcement vehicles could identify nonregistered vehicles more efficiently and allow the city to move toward virtual stickers.

Councilors pressed staff on how short-term rentals and LLC-owned properties would be treated and urged a careful balance between protecting resident access and avoiding undue burdens on year-round households. Public comment urged that guest houses and short-term rental operators be made to provide parking for their guests or forfeit guest-pass privileges.

Staff said no vote was taken and that the workshop advances a multi-step process: refine definitions (including whether to require six or seven months for primary residency), decide caps and fees for secondary stickers, fold guest-pass policy into the ordinance rewrite, and return with more-detailed cost estimates and proposed ordinance language.