Visitors accustomed to free overnight street parking in State College’s residential neighborhoods during Penn State football weekends are in for a change this fall.
State College Borough Council on Monday approved a six-month pilot program that will require payment for parking on streets in the Holmes-Foster, Highlands and College Heights neighborhoods when special event rates are in effect at downtown garages and lots. For the duration of the pilot, that will include 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday on all Penn State football home weekends.
The borough has historically lifted “No Parking 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.” restrictions on neighborhood streets during special event periods like football weekends. Under the pilot program, the restriction will not be lifted, except for those who pay $25 for a 24-hour session or $50 for a 48-hour pass through the borough’s digital parking platform.
Residential “R” and “R-1” permits will remain valid for parking in their respective permit zones.
“This was initially researched and devised as a measure to help ease the financial burden on neighborhoods and generate general fund revenue during periods where historically parking was free without any time restriction,” Parking Director Tom Brown said during a discussion of the proposal in June. “An attempt at a previous permission program had faults, however, technology has greatly improved over the last decade to where enforcement and payment would be much simpler.”
According to a memo from the Parking Department included in Monday’s agenda, the program will have require $38,000 in materials for signage and software integration, as well as labor costs. It is projected to generate up to $350,000 in revenue.
Council member Matt Herndon said he appreciates the plan because the borough is hamstrung by state laws that restrict local taxing power which could otherwise recoup costs incurred by visitors.
“State law prevents us from properly charging visitors to State College for the municipal services that they use,” Herndon said. “We certainly love visitors to our town. I hope that they can accept a small parking fee to help pay for the municipal services that they are using, like the very roads that they are parking on.
“It’s important to reiterate that street parking fees go to the general fund. So every dollar this raises is a dollar that we don’t have to collect via property tax or income tax. And while I think it’s unlikely to raise enough to cover the true municipal cost of visitors here, I think it’s a good start.”
In response to one College Heights resident’s concerns, Parking Department operations supervisor Matthew Pieper clarified that the program will not allow parking where it is currently never permitted, only in those places where it is permitted during the day and restricted overnight.
The pilot also contains a provision authorizing holders of parking permits assigned to the Beaver, Pugh, Fraser garages and McAllister Deck to utilize street commuter zones on Saturdays during Penn State football games.
“We want to make sure that commuter zones are there for the people that are down here working with their commuter zone permits,” Pieper said in June. “So … we are proposing that during the time period where even a garage permit holder cannot find parking and they work downtown, they’ll be able to use the commuter zone on these home football Saturdays specifically to help with the ecosystem.”
The pilot will be in effect from August through December and will be reviewed by council and staff in January to determine whether it should be made permanent.
2-Hour Meter Pilot Extended
Council also approved continuing for another six months a pilot program enacted in 2025 that extended 90-minute maximum street spaces to two hours but prohibits “meter feeding.”
The two-hour limit will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., instead of the current 5 p.m. The maximum after 6 p.m. would then be four hours, until 10 p.m. when meter enforcement ends. The maximum on Saturdays would be five hours.
Brown said in June that the said the change to 6 p.m. is because it is “just a natural kind of break in the day as people are leaving their offices and places of work downtown and then going to more of a nightlife type evening vibe.”
The borough enacted the pilot program in 2025 to encourage regular turnover of street parking and use of garages. While street meter maximums were extended, parkers are unable to add time, or “meter feed,” through the ParkMobile app.
According to a memo from parking staff “statistics do indicate increased legal sessions” during the initial pilot timeframe.
The pilot will be up for review again in January.
