BATON ROUGE — New requirements are going into effect for tire dealers in East Baton Rouge Parish. 

The biggest change is that they will now be required to get a yearly, $100 permit from the city-parish to continue operation in an effort to help mitigate illegal dumping, reduce blight, protect public health and enhance environmental quality in the City-Parish.

A separate permit is required for each location, according to the ordinance. The new ordinance says that tire permits will be managed by the Department of Environmental Services, then enforced by the Department of Development and the PAO through admin court when necessary.

Tire Dealer Permits will be obtained by registering online at tire.brla.gov.

Councilman Darryl Hurst, one of the council members who led the effort to pass the ordinance, visited 2une In on Tuesday to discuss the new changes. Complete guidelines for the new permit can be found here.

Hurst says that the primary goal of these new permits is to combat blight because improperly disposed and displayed tires are an eyesore to the city. 

"If we want Baton Rouge to be an investible place in our economic corridors, we have to fight blight. If we want to fight crime, blight leads to crime," he said. "This is the first step to make Baton Rouge the best place to live, work and play."