City Council approves shared parking program

by | Aug 16, 2018 | Newton, parking | 3 comments

Drivers endlessly circling for spaces in Newton’s shopping areas will soon have more parking options after the City Council on Monday approved a zoning amendment to allow a three-year, citywide shared parking pilot program, Wicked Local Newton reports.

3 Comments

  1. Meredith
    Meredith on August 16, 2018 at 10:54 am

    Good!

  2. Nathan Phillips
    Nathan Phillips on August 16, 2018 at 12:06 pm

    I’m glad to see this. A couple of questions:

    The zoning amendment stipulates that “…the [lot] owners must not displace customers and employees and have to provide the city with regular reports and statistics.” Is there a scenario in which a business would have an incentive to displace customers or employees? Although I can’t think of one, I’m always cautious about unintended consequences of transportation/parking policy. But if not, is requiring reports and statistics onerous for the businesses?

    Second, this pilot applies only to private businesses and doesn’t address homeowner driveways. I don’t believe there is any prohibition on homeowners (or renters with driveway rights?) using private apps like Pavemint. Do I have that correct?

  3. Susan Albright
    Susan Albright on August 16, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    @Nathan – anyone who wants to be in the program must be approved by Planning and ISD. They have to prove that they won’t displace current customers. If anyone causes problems and either Planning or ISD hear about this – they will be denied to be in the program. The Council wanted all these stats – we hope they (the stats) do not stop people from applying to be in the program. It is always a balance.

    I’m not sure about the ability of individuals to rent spaces in their own driveways. This is not part of the program. I’ll check on this.