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The City of Asheville will begin enforcing a change in parking meter policy that says customers displaying handicapped parking placards or license tags will be required to pay parking meters. This new policy will go into effect on November 19.Leading up to that change, the city's Parking Services began issuing warning tickets on Friday and distributing educational leaflets to cars displaying handicapped placards that were parked in front of expired meters. The city will continue issuing those warning citations through Thursday, November 18. Additionally, the city is distributing information about new, pre-paid parking placards for metered spaces. City of Asheville Transportation Director Ken Putnam said that, over the two days of Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13, Traffic Services issued a total of 34 warning citations. The warnings, Putnam said, are intended to allow people who have been using the spaces time to transition to the new enforcement rules. In October, based on City Council direction, the City of Asheville began examining its policy of allowing vehicles with handicapped parking placards or license plates to park at metered spots without paying the parking fee. "We are hoping this transition will inform people about the upcoming enforcement and allow them to adjust to the change," Putnam said. Cars that received warning citations also received information about prepaid parking permits now available through the city's Parking Services Division. Those passes are available to parking customers displaying handicapped parking placards or license tags, and may be purchased at the Parking Services Office at 45 Wall Street. Each coupon costs $5 and allows for 5 hours of parking in metered spaces. The coupons, Putnam said, are intended to provide a way for people with disabilities to pay for their parking spots ahead of time without having to make repeat returns to their vehicle. Two parking passes, Putnam said, will cover the entire 10-hour span from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in which parking meters are checked and enforced. "We want to provide a way for people with disabilities to not have to physically feed a meter," Putnam said. Parking passes are numbered and can only be used once, and are available only to drivers with handicapped parking placards or license plates. Handicapped parking spaces within the city will continue to be unmetered. For more information on pre-paid parking permits for people with disabilities go to www.ashevillenc.gov/progress. To learn about the City of Asheville's Parking Services Division, call (828) 259-5792 or go to www.ashevillenc.gov/residents. (Images provided by the City of Asheville.)
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