Beginning on October 14, police will begin ticketing any vehicles parked street-side without an overnight parking permit.


This overnight parking ban runs between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Police and city officials believe this will keep neighborhoods looking neat and it could combat criminal activity.


"It keeps the criminal element out, the criminal element doesn't want to be bothered by these petty parking violations," Patrolman Shawn Crank said.


Cars found facing the wrong direction, too close to intersections and on the lawn will no longer fly either.


Parking for overnight guests, family visits and gatherings that require parking on the street will now require homeowners to pick up parking permit stickers. The stickers must be placed in the upper left hand corner of the driver's side rear window.


Permits are only issued by Niles police and they come at no cost. Long term parking permits will be issued to those who can't fit all of their vehicles in the driveway, or if motorists don't have a driveway.


The city modeled its overnight parking ban after a similar ordinance in the Cleveland suburb of Brookpark. Niles city council's safety committee conducted a survey before approving the ban. The findings from one evening between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. found 266 vehicles parked on the streets, and nearly all of those vehicles had room to park in a driveway.