Bristol, PA Parking Rules: Preferential Parking Districts (2026)

Section 15-409 opens with the Borough's findings: certain residential areas are subjected to commuter vehicle parking, which deprives residents of spaces, and the program exists to give neighborhood residents primary access to available parking and a cleaner ambient air level. A commuter vehicle is a motor vehicle parked in a residential area by a person who is not a resident of that area.

An area qualifies as impacted under two tests. Between 7:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday except legal holidays, parked or standing vehicles must equal 70% or more of the legal on-street capacity, counting a legal space as 20 linear feet. In the same window, 10% or more of the vehicles must be registered to someone who does not live in the area, measured with the latest Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bureau of Motor Vehicles and Licensing registration data. The code also lists six factors weighed in designating an area, including clean air, fewer total vehicle miles driven, congestion relief, proximity of public transportation, residents' willingness to bear administrative costs, and the need for parking near religious, health or educational establishments.

The code designates three listed areas, each headed Radcliffe Street, with boundaries printed as Market and Mulberry Streets, Market Street and Mulberry Street, and Mill Street and Market Street. Signs along the streets in each area state the days, hours, locations and conditions of permit-only parking.

Applications go to the Chief of Police. Only the owner or driver of a vehicle who resides on, or is a proprietor of, property immediately adjacent to a street in the permit area is eligible. Each vehicle needs its own application and a $10 fee, which the Borough applies to the cost of administering the program. The application lists the owner or driver name, the resident or proprietor address, the make, model and registration number of the vehicle and the driver number from the current license. A proprietor, meaning someone who owns or leases real estate in the area and runs a business or professional office there without living there, is entitled to one permit for that address. The permit runs for the remainder of the calendar year, is renewable annually for $10, and must be visible through the windshield. Under subsection 8, it does not guarantee a space and does not excuse any other traffic or parking regulation.