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PPA Not Offering Enforcement Break For Papal Visit Just Yet

By Steve Tawa

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Now that Mayor Nutter and other officials have mapped out that three square mile perimeter called the "green zone" for the Pope's visit next month, what are your parking options? Should you move your vehicle?

For those inside the perimeter who might feel pangs of claustrophobia, the Mayor says you can move around in the "traffic box," but if you cross the border with a vehicle that weekend, when you return you have to leave your vehicle elsewhere.

KYW Newsradio asked the Philadelphia Parking Authority whether they were considering some sort of enforcement amnesty during the Papal weekend, and they directed us to the Mayor's office, where spokesman Mark McDonald said that was a PPA policy issue, not theirs.

McDonald says as far as he knows, all current parking regulations will be in effect, inside the traffic box and beyond. That means drivers with parking permits issued for Districts 4, 5 & 6, which cover much of the Papal zone, cannot validly park in a nearby district without feeding the meter.

The PPA offers free metered parking in Center City after 5 p.m. on Wednesday evenings, during Old City's First Friday events the first Friday of each month, and on major holidays, but the Authority says it's not yet ready to discuss whether it is contemplating a Papal break.

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