With the holidays fast approaching, the Watertown Police Department is easing parking restrictions to accommodate visiting family members and friends.
…officers will temporarily stop enforcing the all-night parking ban – barring any snowfall that would require plowing or sanding.
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Newton Police did that for Thanksgiving and we thought it was great! Of course as long as there is no snow, I am all for it!
Street parking is allowed, ” barring any snowfall that would require plowing or sanding.”
Isn’t that how it should work all the time?
I agree with Newtoner. That is how it should work all the time. But yes, it would be nice of the City to suspend the winter parking ban as long as there’s no snow in the forecast. It was very helpful for my family when they did this on Thanksgiving. Of course, I am one of the people who thinks the ban should be lifted all together. (Barring snow – similar to what Waltham does)
A temporary ban is fine. But if you want to see what lifting the ban will do for Newton streets, take a drive through Allston or Brighton! Adding free on-street overnight parking all year round will add cars and traffic to our roads, and car storage 24/7. As Newton tries “car-light” development, the winter overnight parking ban makes that real, rather than just an annoyance for everyone who already lives here.
I sympathize with Andreae’s concerns about the potential downside of expanding car ownership. On the other hand, it isn’t clear that is the intent of the ordinance, and if it is the weight of the policy falls unfairly on residents in more modest housing (apartments, condos) with no off-street parking.
Why should those residents bear the total burden of car reduction policy, even if they aren’t abusing it? We aren’t applying the same standard to residents with off-street parking.
Yes, it would be nice if higher density housing required less car ownership. But existing stock may not be “transit oriented”. Why should existing higher density, more affordable housing be made less desirable because of the effective lack of on-street parking?
There should be a more equitable, even handed, and effective way to address this problem. On-street car storage isn’t allowed in most municipalities. Overnight parking permits is another compromise option.
It also seems unfair that the city provides no option for off street snow emergency parking like other cities do. No one is going to move a fleet of cars to a public lot for overnight snow plowing; one is inconvenient enough.
I completely agree with Mike, and would like our City Councilors to consider the option of overnight parking permits.
Andreae, by that logic I take it you are advocating for a year-round ban? I wouldn’t want Newton to be like Brookline, either.
Let’s stipulate that the purpose of the ban is to facilitate snow removal, not to discourage car ownership. The ban should be rescinded except when snow is forecast. At the very least, overnight parking permits should be made available to those who need them.
In fact, our police department has pled inability to add sidewalk snow clearing enforcement 24 hours after a storm, because they are already too busy with snow emergency-related duties. With the current ban, they ticket in November, and by the time there is real snow, most car-owners have found alternate spots to store their car (and Newton does have a provision for parking in muncipal lots in the winter). Without the seasonal ban, you would add to the police duties scouting all 350 miles of Newton streets to ensure cars have been moved off before each snow storm.
I think it would be nice for the ban to be lifted for the holidays when people have out of town visitors. I agree with Andrea’s point about not eliminating the ban. It is not realistic nor desired for our police to spend their time dealing with cars not moved when it snows. With a clear cut overnight ban it forces people to have a plan so when it snows they have a place for their car and the plows have a clear street to remove snow from. . I lived in Brighton and by having year round street parking people are much more likely to own a car they rarely drive and that doesn’t get moved when it snows. On the flip side I also lived in Brookline and had to pay for yr round off street parking and got many a ticket when I first moved there so I appreciate the seasonal only ban. This ban has been in place for decades so you would think there would be more predetermined options for renters.
If you had a night-time parking permit system, you could just as easily “get the message across” by revoking the permits on snow emergency violations, or up the ante with higher fines or towing if you believe punishment is the way to change behavior. You could auto-call the permit holders, helping them comply with the snow emergency law in a proactive, positive way.
If the goal in compliance during snow, I believe a freshly considered policy could improve what we have today. We can always do better.
The people I know with no off-street parking don’t “get the message” in November: they are ordinary busy people, they do the best they can, and pay their fine when it comes due, and when snow comes along they deal with that too.
And I don’t think offering residents without parking the opportunity to park in a residential lot during the winter is a meaningful or practical accommodation for many. Would it be for any of us homeowners if we didn’t have a driveway? I also can’t tell whether parking is allowed in municipal lots during a snow emergency – I would guess not since most (all?) lots are surface lots.
In the spirit of the season, perhaps it is time to give even more thought to the plight of our neighbors and not be tempted to assume worst intentions or behavior as the basis of our municipal planning. The City exists to help its citizens.
And a wonderful season to all!
I am in total agreement with Mike. Projecting the probability of negative actions on the specific group who have no off-street parking comes from a we vs them mentality. There is no good reason to put life-complicating restrictions on fellow residents just because there are many residences in Newton that do not provide parking.
To take the absurdity further, including the analogy of putting the onus of car reduction on a particular group, why not penalize the resident owners who provide only on-street parking or require them to provide parking permits?