Once upon a time (just a short time ago), you had to go to city hall to obtain a resident parking permit for a rental car. We learned that you can now apply and get a permit online so we tried it for our recent Provincetown trip. If you don't own a car, like us, and plan a few fall weekends away, this new service may come in handy.
We rented this Passat with New Jersey plates. Once we had the car, we went online to the city's page for "Resident Parking Permits for Rental Cars," read the instructions, filled out the form, faxed a copy of our rental contract, proof of residencey (our cable bill), and the confirmation of our application to the city. They emailed a copy of our permit which we printed and put in the car's rear window.
Better, But Can Be Improved
This is much easier but still way behind the times. You should be able to carry out the entire process by email. You can grab a pdf of a cable, utility, or tax bill. The rental company probably sent you a copy of the rental via text or email. And, the city should be able to accept those forms via email.
What's more, they should be able to handle a simple transaction like this 24/7. We applied on a Saturday morning and had to wait until Monday to get our permit. That left us vunerable to parking tickets and ticked off neighbords over the weekend. Our solution was to leave a rear window note – explaining that the car was a rental belonging to a resident – along with a copy of our confirmation of applying for the permit.
If the mayor's hot line can operate 24/7 so can many more city services.
The city says,
"At this time, the new system is not available weekends and residents who pick up their vehicles after 3 PM will not be able to go online for a temporary permit.
These residents are eligible to have "Resident Parking Only" tickets cancelled by forwarding a proof of residency at their Boston address and a copy of the vehicle rental agreement to the Office of the Parking Clerk."
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 BostonZest
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