The City undertook an extensive citywide residential parking study, data collection, and community outreach effort throughout 2020 and 2021.  A Citywide Residential Permit Parking Study was completed in 2022.  The study provided several recommendations, and the City Council adopted the revised RPP Program Guidelines in July 2022.  In order to implement the revised RPP Program Guidelines, the program was formally relaunched.

The guiding principles employed in the development of the City’s revised RPP program follow:

• Equitable access: Develop equitable programs that appropriately balance the parking needs of all residents, businesses, and visitors, while enabling the on-street parking supply to serve the community fairly, and enhance access for all.
• Sustainable solutions: Implement financially sustainable strategies that modernize and streamline parking program management.
• Efficient program management: Create an efficient and adaptable parking system that is optimized for the City’s current needs, but can be incrementally updated and adjusted over time.

All streets requiring residential parking permits have signs posted displaying the permit requirement. Always remember to keep an eye out for RPP signage or other no parking signs when parking on an unfamiliar street. A map of all streets requiring residential parking permits can be found here.

Applications for new RPP zones are currently being accepted. In most cases, a minimum street frontage of about 2,000 feet instead of a street-by-street basis will be considered to establish a new standalone RPP zone. This requirement would not apply to applicants attempting to join an existing neighboring permit zone.

Once an application is received, City staff will conduct a parking occupancy study is then conducted to evaluate whether a permit restriction is needed and to determine the appropriate boundaries for the new permit zone. If determined to be eligible to create an RPP zone, neighborhoods that would like an RPP Zone will be required to provide a petition from residents signed by 51 percent or more households in support of implementing an RPP Zone. Once the petition is verified, a parking occupancy study is then conducted to evaluate whether a permit restriction is needed and to determine the appropriate boundaries for the new permit zone.

New applications for RPP zones are currently being accepted. In order to apply to create a new zone, please email ParkingStudy@costamesaca.gov.

Qualifying residents on RPP streets can apply for permits for their vehicles and for guest passes through the online permit management system.  Here, you can apply for a permit, upload documentation, purchase permits, and make any edits to your account. The residential permit parking online permit management system can be found at https://costamesa.permitinfo.net/.

Permits are registered and managed by one primary account holder per household through the online permit management system. For any questions regarding the online permit management system, please email ParkingStudy@costamesaca.gov. 

A resident on a permit street with a valid driver’s license and a vehicle registered to the same address will be eligible for one parking permit.  This includes residents of all dwelling types, such as single-family homes, apartment buildings, townhomes, and condos.  There is a maximum of four permits per household.  Permits are registered and managed by one primary permit holder per household through the online permit management system.

Oversized vehicles, as defined by the Costa Mesa Municipal Code, are not eligible for residential parking permits.

All guest permits will be issued online through the online permit management system and will utilize your guest’s license plate number. The old paper guest permits are no longer accepted. Instead, virtual guest permits will be offered for residential parking permit accounts at $25 for 100 guest permits per year. 

If the vehicle is registered to the address on the account, the online account holder can add a new vehicle to an existing permit as long as they first remove the vehicle previously attached to the permit. To add a new a new vehicle, a resident should navigate to their account at https://costamesa.permitinfo.net/. After logging in, click on the permit you want make changes to, delete the previous vehicle, and you can now enter the vehicle information of the new vehicle.  

The City significantly upgraded the technology used to manage the RPP program. This includes a permit management system (PMS) and license plate recognition (LPR) technology.

LPR technology improves enforcement efficiency and allows the implementation of virtual parking permits. Instead of verifying that each vehicle has a physical permit displayed, The LPR system verifies that the permit number is tied to the vehicle license plate number which is input by the resident in the online permit management system. The LPR system automates the enforcement process by using the license plate number as the permit number and verifying permit status using a database with real-time information.

If you received a citation and would like to pay it or submit an appeal, please follow the instructions on the back of the citation slip. For more information about citations, please visit costamesaca.gov/parkingenforcement.