Helen ends free parking for residents, employees in city lots

HELEN, Ga. — Visitors, residents, and employees in Helen will see immediate changes to public parking rules after city commissioners voted to revise parking policies due to ongoing parking shortages in the Alpine tourist town.

Under the changes approved by the Helen Commission, White County residents and Helen business employees will no longer be allowed to park for free in city-owned paid parking lots. Effective immediately, anyone with a White County vehicle tag or employees parking in city-owned paid lots will now be required to pay for parking.

The updated policy applies to the city-owned paid parking lots at Edelweiss and Chattahoochee Strasse, as well as the new parking lot currently under construction on Narr Weg.

City officials also announced that all free city-owned parking areas will now carry a two-hour time limit.

The new two-hour limit applies to parking at Unicoi Hill Park, Riverside Park, the Helen Library, Tannen Weg parking near Bigg Daddy’s, Narr Weg parking near Francesco’s and the nearby apartments, along with all other free parking areas owned by the city.

The Helen Police Department will enforce the parking changes.

City officials said the changes were made in response to ongoing parking shortages throughout Helen.

Anyone with questions about the new parking regulations is encouraged to contact Helen City Hall at 706-878-2733.