Crystal’s New Parking Rules Allow More People To Park For Short Amounts of Time on City Streets
(CITY OF CRYSTAL AND CCX MEDIA) – There is no parking on any Crystal street between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., except with a short-term permit issued by the police department between April 1 through Nov. 30. Permits are issued during normal business hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The first permit is free. Any subsequent permit is $35.
“We certainly don’t want a city where we’ve got cars all over the street all night, every night,” said Crystal Police Chief Brian Hubbard. “Either permit that you have, we still have an ordinance that requires that that vehicle be moved every 24 hours, so someone can’t have their vehicle break down and just leave it on the city street into forever. Every vehicle has to be moved, whether they have a permit or not.
Residents can apply for two types of overnight parking permits – short-term and long-term. Short-term permits are valid for up to 14 days, and up to two per year are free. Long-term permits are available between April 1 and Nov. 30, with a limit of three per household per calendar year.
Temporary overnight parking permits (short and long term) may be issued on legal holidays and the days immediately before and after. Recognized holidays include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
“You can park on city streets on holidays,” said Hubbard. “Anybody can, assuming family is coming into town or whatever.”
Applications must include the vehicle’s license plate, address where it will be parked, reason for the request, and contact information. All permits must be clearly displayed inside the vehicle and are not transferable.
Even with a permit, on-street parking is limited to no more than 24 consecutive hours.
During snow parking restrictions (declared snow event of more than 1.5 inches), ALL vehicles, including those with permits, must be removed from the street. Vehicles not removed may be ticketed or towed.
“If there is more than an inch and a half of snow, as determined by our public works department, there’s no parking on city streets, obviously with the goal of we want to get those plows in there and out,” said Hubbard. “So, depending on the road, depending on the situation, we may ticket for the overnight parking violation, we may ticket for the snow emergency, or if it really is an area where the plow can’t get through, we will tow vehicles, so it’s really important that people pay attention to that weather as we come into the winter months.”
FEES (beginning Aug. 23, 2025):
The first two short-term parking permits are free. Additional permits are $20 each, with a maximum of four short-term permits allowed per year per vehicle.
Long-term permits are $40.
