Neighborhood parking spots are disappearing quickly for Colorado State University students and faculty trying to park for free off-campus.

As of Monday, April 3 the City of Fort Collins will be expanding their residential parking permit program (RP3) with two new zones and two more being considered.

“For CSU this means that staff, faculty and students who may have been parking in adjacent neighborhoods to avoid paying for parking on campus will no longer be able to park on neighborhood streets without a permit,” said Jill Marx, public relations coordinator for planning, development and transportation.

The University East neighborhood as well as the Old Fort Collins High School neighborhood will be joining the current RP3 zones, according to the City of Fort Collins parking website.

Marx said that non-residents parking in this area are allowed two hours once per day Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Citizens in these areas initiated and signed a petition to get the neighborhoods to become part of the RP3 program. After the Fort Collins Parking Division received this petition an occupational study was conducted to see if there truly was a parking problem.

Jamie Moyer, manager of the RP3 program, said that after the study a ballot was sent out and after 50 percent of the neighborhood agreed to the petition the planning for signs and permits to be handed out began.

“What it does is it allows [citizens] to find parking in front of their homes. Before they would be parking two or three blocks away, especially during the day,” said Moyer.

While University East and the Old Fort Collins High School neighborhoods are being added, Western Heights and Lake Street are currently being considered for addition to the RP3 program.

The Fort Collins Parking Service website offers citizens maps of what zones are part of the RP3 program to show people where they can and cannot park.

“This program is a collaborative program between the City of Fort Collins and CSU and is intended to mitigate spillover parking from large stadium events at CSU,” said a statement from the Department of Planning, Development and Transportation.

“The RP3 program has effectively provided greater access to parking for neighborhood residents. These two new zones are a result of non-resident parking expanding out to these areas,” said Seth Lorson, city parking planner.

Those without a valid CSU parking permit can visit the parking section of the City of Fort Collins website to apply for and request a parking permit, which is found under the “payment and application” tab.

Austin Fleskes can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @MrPacMan80.