Despite a massive overhaul to the North Joaquin parking-permit program, few were on hand Tuesday night to voice their opinion to the Provo City Council.

"I see this as unnecessary legislation ... enforcement punishes both students and landlords," said John Payne, who owns two properties in the affected neighborhood, which is between University Avenue and 900 East, and 500 North to 800 North.

The biggest change to the new parking permit proposal is the hours of enforcement. Parking would be free in the daytime, and permits would be enforced from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. daily, except during the week of Thanksgiving, between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day and during BYU graduation.

Payne said he believes the program will cause more parking problems than it solves. As a landlord, Payne said he has worked hard to comply with the city's licensing requirements, and he has enough parking for his tenants.

Although Payne's properties have adequate parking, he said complexes surrounding him do not, and parking permits would drive tenants of other properties to use his lots. Instead of combating the parking problem, Payne said the city's plan will force him to monitor his lots at night -- with great expense.

"We don't have a parking problem," he said. "This will create a big problem."

Payne said he feels the council is also discriminating against landlords because owner-occupants are entitled to two free passes, whereas landlords must compete for permits on the open market.

Charles McElwee, a senior at BYU, said he feels the council has not been consistent through the different meetings about the program. The considerable changes the council has made to the program -- including enforcement between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. instead of throughout the day -- show that the council's reasons for the program are inconsistent, he said.

"They're doing token changes, and then they reverse them when no one is looking," McElwee said.

McElwee said he believes the council does not want to hear from students who are affected by the changes. In the past, he said he has been to council meetings and the council members did not answer his questions.

"They try to tear us down," he said. "They don't care to listen."

John Ellis, a longtime Provo resident who attended BYU, said he thinks the permit program will end up hurting the students, rather than landlords who over-occupy residences. The program is hurting the very people the city wants to bring in for revenue, he said.

"It's just typical, I think, of Provo city to penalize the students, because they don't really have a voice," Ellis said.

Although many students feel they are taken for granted by the city, Councilman George Stewart said the needs of students were carefully taken into account. The altered hours of enforcement will allow students to have friends and church members visit in the evening without penalty. The enforcement is also meant to combat over-occupancy and help students have a place to park close to home at night.

"Safety is our No. 1 concern," he said.

McElwee said he does not believe the needs of the students are being met, and he plans to mobilize affected tenants to fight any decision to move forward with the parking permits. Voter registration forms will be handed out to students at BYU to encourage them to register in Provo, McElwee said. He plans to apply for a referendum vote if the council approves the permits, and students will need to be registered in Provo in order to take part in the referendum.

Although most attendees were not in support of parking permits, one man said they will benefit the city. Jeremiah Maughan, who is a member of the Association of Realtors and works for Vision Real Estate, said his tenants have complained that their spots are being taken away. Over-occupancy should not be attacked, he said, but the problems caused by it like lack of parking.

Most of the visitors at Tuesday night's meeting were interested in the parking permits, but the city also slipped in some resolutions along the way. A resolution to approve an agreement with the Provo Downtown Alliance was approved after months of negotiations between the city and business owners. The city will now provide the bulk of the $150,000 yearly funding for the alliance, along with voluntary contributions from business owners.

The council also moved to allow downtown property at 215 West to 235 West and 100 North to be given to Utah County in the hopes that the property will one day be occupied by a convention center. In an agreement the city will present to the county, the revenues brought by the convention center will pay for the property, and if the county does not begin building somewhere on the property by Dec. 31, 2010, the land must be returned to the city.