What's With the New Parking Placards?

You may have noticed new parking passes delivered to your house in the mail, which became effective Sept. 1. Here's why, according to Police Chief Joe Payne:

We worked on a system to better identify the parking placards from the “Mission-Meridian” parking district placards. We wanted the parking officers to differentiate the Farmers Market merchants from those that have other businesses and the residents as well. The Farmers’ Market placards were distributed through the Chamber of Commerce, while the business owners and residents received theirs in the mail based on prior issuance of placards.

We now have a computer tracking system that can identify the placard. The Farmers’ Market placards are green and bear “F” series numbers. The business and resident placards are red and bear either “R” for resident or “B” for business series numbers. We limited the number of colors to avoid excessive costs and to avoid the risk of color confusion. We also use white placards with a color sticker for other parking districts. The existing gold placards in the Mission-Meridian district are being phased out.