New signage in downtown Wheeling alert motorists that 2-hour free parking limits in meterless parking zones are strictly enforced. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

WHEELING — The city of Wheeling has begun enforcing new parking rules in the downtown area where meters have been removed in completed sections of the state’s ongoing Streetscape project.

The first overtime parking ticket was issued on Thursday, and the city’s new state-of-the-art, automated parking enforcement system is up and running, according to Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron. By Friday, several tickets had already been issued to overtime parking violations using the new system.

On-street parking is now offered for free for a limited amount of time along affected areas of Main Street, Market Street and on some connecting streets between 10th and 16th streets downtown. New signs have been erected in applicable free parking zones downtown to alert motorists that the 2-hour parking limit is being strictly enforced.

While enforcement for violators comes with a fine, the new system offers commuters perks that never existed before, city officials noted.

“When the meters were here, you had to pay as soon as you parked,” Herron said. “You get two free hours with this system.”

Plans have been in motion over the past few months to implement a new method of enforcing overtime parking in these areas that no longer have meters.

City officials have noted that since the new meterless on-street parking spaces have been created, many of the spots have been occupied by vehicles of people who work in the downtown area – and they have remained parked in the same spot all day.

“For all of the calls we’ve received about parking, that’s been the primary complaint from the local businesses – people who park there all day,” Assistant City Manager Bill Lanham said. “They want turnover.”

Wheeling Parking Enforcement Officer Matt Schrebe poses by one of the city’s new Nissan Leaf electric vehicles that have been outfitted with cameras and software as part of their new Digital Tire Chalking system. Enforcement of the city’s new limited free downtown parking rules began last week utilizing the new state-of-the-art system. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

The purpose of having meters or areas of limited parking time is to create “turnover” and keep parking spots available for motorists visiting local businesses, officials have stressed.

“We are so happy to have this in place,” said Jessica Barclay of ThIVe Wheeling on Main Street. “We’ve struggled with cars camping out all day long, and it’s been a real challenge for our clients, who deserve the opportunity to park in close proximity, when possible.”

Late last year, the city purchased two new electric vehicles to be used for a new parking enforcement strategy for the downtown. New software was purchased and installed into the EV cars to allow personnel to simply drive through the designated areas and allow the software to do much of the work.

Officials said this Electronic Tire Chalking or Digital Tire Chalking system will not only increase efficiency with enforcement, but will also allow free parking for certain periods of time before overtime violations warrant a ticket. Almost all areas in the downtown without meters now offer two-hour free parking, while others in some areas are expected to be adjusted to 15-minute free parking time allotments. City leaders have also discussed 30-minute and 1-hour free parking in certain areas, depending on the turnover needs of the adjacent businesses.

Parking enforcement personnel will drive the outfitted vehicle in the designated areas, and the cameras will read each vehicle’s license plate and the location of at least one valve stem. They will register the location, time and date, and then will provide notifications when two hours have passed.

Wheeling Parking Enforcement Officer Matt Schrebe sits in one of the city’s new electric vehicles outfitted with the new Digital Tire Chalking system. Cameras mounted on the cars read license plates of vehicles parked in meterless zones and can tell if they have exceeded the two-hour parking limits. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

Early last month, city council approved an amendment to the parking codes to incorporate rules for the new limited free parking approach. Since being adopted, the new 2024 Nissan Leaf electric vehicles have been outfitted with the Electronic Tire Chalking equipment, which include small cameras mounted on both sides of the roofs of the cars.

“We had to get the technology, the software, everything mounted and the training — we got all of that done,” Herron said. “The cameras have been installed, the software has been installed and our parking enforcement personnel have been trained and are ready to go with enforcement of the free, generally two-hour parking in the downtown area.”

Matt Schrebe, parking enforcement officer for the city of Wheeling, said the system is user friendly, and the cars themselves — which seem to glide down the street very quietly compared to gasoline-powered vehicles — are easy to drive and carry a charge that lasts a long time.

“I wasn’t a big electric car person at first,” Schrebe said. “But it drives nice — I love the car.”

During the most recent meeting of Wheeling City Council, officials made another amendment to the parking rule — prohibiting motorists from moving their vehicle to another space within the same parking zone in an attempt to extend free parking privileges. That tweak was approved last week.

A vehicle in downtown Wheeling received an overtime parking ticket on Friday after the city began enforcing its new limited free parking rules last week. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

Two parking enforcement EVs were making regular rounds of the downtown late last week, issuing tickets in several parking zones where vehicles had been stationed for over two hours. Schrebe said he expected word to spread fairly quickly about the risks of violating the overtime parking rule now that it’s being enforced.

Fees for overtime parking violations in the limited free spaces are the same as those for violations at expired meters, which are still being monitored in areas where meters still exist. The first violation generates a $10 ticket, and subsequent violations at the same meters or in the same parking zones can be elevated to $20 per violation on the same day.

“Now that we’re ticketing them, I figure by next week, they’ll be moving along,” Schrebe said.

New signage in downtown Wheeling alert motorists that 2-hour free parking limits in meterless parking zones are strictly enforced. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

New signage in downtown Wheeling alert motorists that 2-hour free parking limits in meterless parking zones are strictly enforced. (Photo by Eric Ayres)