St. Paul officials ticketed vehicles Monday that were found violating the city's new one-sided parking rule but declined to tow any of the scofflaws — for now.

Until further notice, the city is restricting residential parking to the odd-numbered side of the street to enable emergency vehicles to get through streets narrowed by heavy snow this winter.

That means no parking on even-numbered sides of the streets, save for nonresidential streets and streets already posted for one-sided parking.

St. Paul began issuing warning fliers Saturday. Towing was expected to begin Tuesday, and the city will continue to ramp up its towing efforts as the week progresses, said Kari Spreeman, a spokeswoman for the Public Works Department.

Parking tickets were issued by Public Works officials Monday, but Spreeman said she didn't know how many cars had been tagged.

In St. Paul, tickets cost the offender $56, and the cost of springing your car from an impound lot once you're towed is $219.50 before midnight. A $15 storage fee will be charged for each additional day that a vehicle is left in the lot.

KEVIN DUCHSCHERE