Mannheim/Freiburg (dpa/lsw) – A Freiburg resident has to pay further increased parking fees after a court order. The Administrative Court (VGH) in Mannheim rejected the urgent application by the city council against the new regulation on Tuesday. The reason for the complaint was the annual fee for a resident’s parking permit, which was increased by the city’s statute at the end of last year from 30 to 360 euros.
According to the court, the applicant regularly parks his car on public traffic areas in the residents’ parking area. He accuses the city of illegally pursuing environmental and social policy goals with the new fee assessment. The multiple increase in the fee is likely to make the use of a motor vehicle more expensive and thus unattractive in comparison to local public transport.
The top administrative judges in the south-west, on the other hand, emphasized that the fee regulation aims to reduce inner-city traffic and thus greenhouse gas emissions in a permissible manner. In addition, the resident parking fee compensates for the special benefit that residents derive from being exempt from mandatory general parking fees and parking time limits. The decision of the VGH is final (2 S 809/22).
