Buffalo, NY Parking Rules: Preferential Parking Districts (2026)

The Common Council created the Fruit Belt Residential Pilot Parking Area in 2016 after finding that hospital-driven parking demand around Buffalo General Medical Park was causing traffic hazards, congestion and pollution for Fruit Belt neighborhood residents, and that New York had specifically authorized Buffalo to adopt a residential parking system. Section 307-85 limits the district to 12 enumerated streets, including Maple, Mulberry, Locust, Lemon, Orange, Peach, Grape and Rose Streets, plus stretches of High, Carlton, Virginia and North Streets, all running between BFNC Drive and North Street.

The Department of Public Works installs midblock signage marking half of each block as resident-only parking; the remaining half stays open to anyone, resident or not, at no charge. Only domiciled residents whose property frontage touches the curbline of a listed street qualify for a permit, and the City charges just $1 for that residential parking permit. No permit is required on streets where the adjacent properties are zoned for commercial office or retail use. The ordinance was adopted under the authority of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1640-p, which is also the source of its unusual sunset clause: § 307-85G provides that the article remains in force for 730 days from its ratification and then expires and is deemed repealed unless the Council re-adopts it, underscoring the program's pilot status rather than a permanent citywide preferential-parking scheme.