One Block North: Why University Park's Resident-Only Parking Map Keeps Growing

"Most likely it will."

That was Public Works Director Keegan Littrell's answer at the July 21 University Park City Council meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Phillip Philbin had asked whether restricting parking on part of the 4200 block of Amherst Avenue would just push the problem one block north. Littrell then added a question of his own: "But then, how far north does it continue to push?"

The council approved the district 4-1 anyway. That exchange sums up how University Park's curb rules work. Each resident-only district fixes one block, and the cars it moves out become the next block's problem. This fall, for the first time in years, the program is in question at the council table and also, indirectly, on the November 3 ballot.

A Map Built One Request at a Time

Since 2002, the city has created districts covering 2,000 addresses on 1,511 parcels, according to People Newspapers' September 29 report. Community information officer Paige Ruedy described the process. A resident asks, the city surveys the affected block, and if a majority supports limits, the question goes to the council.

Amherst Avenue shows the pattern clearly. In April 2024, alley utility work between Lovers Lane and Amherst led to temporary restrictions on the 4300 and 4400 blocks, and those became permanent that October. When the council approved that district, homeowner Charles Bufkin told members, "We've seen cars hit. We've seen people almost hit." Two years later, the 4200 block, just next door, made its own request. Resident Greg Crespi told the council that "over about the last five or six years, the number of cars and trucks that have parked on our block has steadily increased."

The new restriction runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. It covers the south side of the street from 4215 west to Douglas and the north side from 4212 west to Douglas.

The scale shows up in the enforcement numbers. Between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026, the city wrote 2,708 citations for residential parking district violations. Ruedy said enforcement costs the city more than $87,000 a year, not counting one-time costs.

Where the Cars Are Coming From

Most of the overflow is people coming to work, not neighbors' guests. On the 4200 block of Amherst, Littrell told the council that residents thought the growing number of parked cars came from Miracle Mile employees.

The same thing happens around the city's other busy areas. A 2025 Snider Plaza task-force proposal estimated that employees were using 230 of the plaza's 435 spaces, and that another 192 employees were parking in nearby neighborhoods. Those numbers came from a survey cited at the time, not a current count. The SMU-area districts go back further. In 2010, the council discussed a proposal responding to complaints about parking by SMU faculty, staff, and students. A 2011 council record shows residents also tying street parking to SMU football games, McFarlin Auditorium events, and spillover from Snider Plaza.

That explains why September's other parking decision matters for residential streets. On September 15, the council approved the Snider Plaza Public Improvement District. It charges property owners an annual assessment of 15 cents per $100 of valuation, mainly to pay for off-site, long-term employee parking. The PID is expected to raise $195,000 in its first year and runs for an initial 10 years. The vote also ended the debate over paid parking at the plaza. At the same meeting, the council tabled a Highland Park ISD request to change a parking agreement for the streets around Highland Park High School. Philbin said city spaces near Miracle Mile could work as walkable off-site employee parking, "because I think that is an issue and will continue to be an issue."

So the city is now trying two approaches together. It keeps adding resident-only blocks to keep cars out, and it is starting to fund places for those cars to go.

The Zigzag Vote

The 4200 block of Amherst came back to the council in August. One home asked to join the district and another asked to leave it. Council member Melissa Rieman said the change "would now zigzag across two houses," adding, "We're individually privatizing people that want specific, individual parking restrictions." Council member Darrell Lane asked whether any other district had a zigzag in the middle of it.

The council voted 4-1 to deny the request. Philbin dissented again, saying he thought the city should remove the district entirely. He tied his objection to the ballot: "Just last night, we proposed a raise in taxes to do parking enforcement," he said. "If we don't have the money to do parking enforcement at Snider Plaza, we certainly don't have the money to do parking enforcement on private streets like this."

According to People Newspapers, several council members have now questioned the cost of enforcement and whether districts are the best answer to parking problems. For a program that has grown by request for more than two decades, that is a real change in tone.

What Proposition A Would Fund for the Curb

Proposition A asks voters to approve a city tax rate of $0.220055 per $100 of assessed value. The adopted base rate is $0.209534. The extra revenue would pay for four police officers, two firefighters, a pension adjustment for fire personnel, and technology for residential parking districts. The parking piece breaks down like this on the city's Prop A page:

The city says the plate readers are not part of the Flock camera system. It describes them as the same technology it has used since 2009, used only to check whether a car is allowed in a district or has gone over a posted time limit, and says it does not store the images. The city also says the portal is meant to streamline permits, because the number of districts has grown faster than staffing.

The city estimates that for a median taxable residence of $1,836,884, the annual city tax would rise from $3,848 to $4,041 under the 2026 rate, an increase of $193. If the proposition fails, the supplemental items drop out and a fallback rate of $0.210390 applies. People Newspapers reported that residents spoke in favor at the August 4 and August 17 meetings, including retired fire chief Scott Anding and former council member Mark Aldredge. No one spoke against calling the election, and the council ordered it unanimously. State law requires the whole package to go on the ballot as one proposition, so voters cannot vote on the parking technology separately.

The voter registration deadline is Monday, October 5. Early voting runs October 19 through October 30, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Rules on Your Block This Fall

However the vote goes, the district rules in the city code apply right now. Here is what matters most for a household inside a district:

1. Two resident permits per home. A resident permit covers only the vehicle listed on it, must be visible, and expires a year after it is issued. You renew by reapplying.
2. Two free temporary placards per household, renewed every year. Hillcrest East and West placards expire December 31. High School-area placards expire June 30.
3. Free party permits from the Police Department, requested 24 to 72 hours ahead and good for up to five days.
4. Service vehicles have a defense. The code provides a defense for vehicles that are actually doing maintenance, repair, delivery, or lawn work at a home in the zone. It does not create a general contractor permit.
5. Hours vary by zone. Some zones are restricted 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on public school days, others 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and some streets have their own exceptions. The new Amherst block runs through Saturday, with fines of up to $200.

Football adds its own rules. SMU tells fans that nearby residential-only blocks in University Park and Highland Park are enforced, that fans without permits may be cited, and that fans should use designated SMU parking. Four home games remain at Ford Stadium: October 17 against Virginia, October 24 against Cal, Friday, November 6 against Virginia Tech, and November 14 against Wake Forest. On game days, the outside northbound lane of Hillcrest between Shenandoah and Granada closes, northbound traffic moves to the inside lane, and rideshare pickup and drop-off use the Owen Arts Center circle drive.

If your block is close to Miracle Mile, Snider Plaza, or campus and has no district yet, the July 21 exchange is the one to remember. On a street right next to a new district, the survey of your block may come up sooner than you expect.

If you'd like to know how parking rules and nearby commercial activity affect a particular University Park street, The Blackman Group can go through it with you block by block. Request a complimentary neighborhood consultation and we'll start with the curb.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.