Less than three months after the city began enforcing new parking rules in the Short North, officials said they are making changes to boost on-street parking after hearing from business owners and residents.

Beginning June 24, the following changes will take place:

• Lowering the 24-hour resident guest pass rate from $6 to $3.

• Lowering mobile-pay-only side street rates from $2 an hour to $1 an hour between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. in permit zones SNA, SNB and SNE.

• Reducing Goodale Street meter rates to $1 an hour and removing time-limit restrictions.

• Adjusting the time that rates change at meters and mobile pay zones back an hour from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

• Beginning a new on-street retail validation program, which will take $1 off of their parking fee through the Park Columbus app after getting parking validated at a store.

The new regulations that went into effect on Jan. 22 eliminated free, on-street parking in the Short North, Italian Village and Victorian Village. The city didn't start enforcing the new rules until Feb. 19.

Robert Ferrin, assistant director of parking services, said the city is changing things to encourage more on-street parking.

"The feeling among everybody is that the new rules have changed ... habits, and that those habits include not parking on the street during the day," Ferrin said.

He said that the city issued 5,275 parking tickets in the Short North in the first three months of the year, including those issued after the Feb. 19 enforcement period began for the new rules. He said the city read 51,131 license plates during that time, meaning about 90 percent of drivers complied with the rules, he said.

But other Short North patrons might have been chased off.

Sakib Ullah, who works at the Short North Coffee House, 1203 N. High St., said his father, who owns the shop, might have lost some business after the new rules were enforced.

"Not a lot of people want to pay to park," Ullah said. "A lot of people don't like to drive here any more."

Shawn McMillan, who runs the online sales department at music store Magnolia Thunderpussy, 1155 N. High St., said he often sees cars being ticketed. McMillan said he welcomed the retail validation program for on-street parking. "People will be happy, especially since street parking stopped being free," he said.

Betsy Pandora, the executive director of the Short North Alliance, said the changes will make parking more convenient. She said the Short North has about 6,000 on-street spaces.

"There's more parking than ever before in the Short North," Pandora said.

By late summer, the city tentatively plans to increase the number of guest permits to residents from one to two. Also, visitors would be able to park in mobile-pay side street zones for up to six hours.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik