License Plate Readers to Replace City Residents' Parking Stickers and Guest Passes
Williamsburg expected to roll out new online parking portal on August 18
In the coming weeks, the City of Williamsburg is planning to implement what it calls a “digital system” to manage residential and guest parking. According to the City’s website, “parking enforcement will use license plate readers to efficiently verify whether vehicles are registered for a valid permit.” It appears that parking stickers and visitor passes will not be sold going forward and that residents who live in restricted parking zones will now be expected to utilize an online portal to purchase their parking privileges instead.
The lack of parking and parking violation enforcement are some of the most contentious issues facing the City, particularly around the College of William and Mary and downtown. For example, a survey of residents and students conducted by the City in 2023 indicated that parking was already a top concern, surpassing both “exterior property upkeep” and “neighbors & landlord tenant disputes.”
Despite the fast approaching transition to the new digital parking program, scant information has been released so far by the City. At the time of this reporting, the only description of the new program found by the reporter on the City’s website included a brief mention on the “Parking in Williamsburg” webpage, which provided the following information :
Updates Coming Soon!
Starting Monday, Aug. 18, residential and guest parking decals will move to a digital system. During this transition period, 2025-26 permits will not be sold. Existing decals are good through Aug. 31, 2025.
On Aug. 18, those who live in parking permit zones will purchase residential permits and manage guest passes through our new online system. Starting Sept. 1, 2025, parking enforcement will use license plate readers to efficiently verify whether vehicles are registered for a valid permit.
For updates on the new system, please check this webpage.
On the webpage, the City invites residents to access a new Parking Portal, which they state will allow residents “to manage your parking account including vehicles, payment methods or citations for parking in Prince George Parking Garage.” The link takes users to a log-in screen for the portal where they can create an account to begin the process of registering for parking.
At the time of this writing, there is no explanation posted on the City’s website about how residents will verify occupancy and ownership of their vehicles. And while the page briefly mentions the current system of parking permit zones, it’s unclear how the color-coded system will be retained and enforced if there are no parking stickers issued. Other unanswered questions include how residents without access to technology or are uncomfortable with the process will be served and how much City employees have been told about the program in order to assist residents with the imminent rollout.
One parking vendor that’s currently working with the City recently touted additional efforts around “parking and compliance management,” stating that their growing partnership with Williamsburg represents “continued collaboration will unify enforcement, permitting, paid parking and payment processing operations.” It’s unclear if that parking services vendor is also involved with the forthcoming implementation of the residential parking portal.
A representative of the City did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This story will be updated as further information becomes available.