The Newton City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on a proposal to shorten the duration of
the winter parking ban to begin on December 15 (instead of November 15) and end on
April 1 (instead of April 15).
The Public Safety & Transportation committee approved the measure 7-0-1 (Grossman abstaining)
Still makes no sense to have one at all. Just put week long parking bans around snowstorms if you want. And for those who are worried about students or commuters, make your street 2 hour parking.
Something is better than nothing I suppose.
This seems an appropriate adjustment in light of global warming.
This is a silly symbolic step that doesn’t address a real problem. Just ban parking during snow emergencies. If that can work fine in surrounding communities, there’s no reason we can’t also bow to common sense and stop punishing residents who can’t afford larger houses with adequate parking.
I’ll be glad to have to have about 6 less weeks of moving my car, but this isn’t really good enough. Get rid of the damn ban, City Council!
This would seem tailor made for any at-large city council candidate who wanted to removing the seasonal on street parking ban a main or the main campaign issue as long as they included a reasonable, supplementary backup plan to get cars off the road when a storm is eminent.
And the proposed change would still include winter holidays when many people have company visiting who might park on the streets.
Which means that either people risk tickets during that time, or the Mayor or the police will suspend enforcement (either announced or unannounced).
And that will demonstrate that we didn’t really need the ban at all.
Reducing the ban by 30 days, and keeping it for about 120 days, really does not solve the problem. So is a full lift of the ban off the table now?
Also – convenient to vote on the 17th to make it start on the 15th so the late start won’t even matter this year.
The winterlong ban needs to go, especially as noted above, during holiday seasons when no storms are predicted. If the city council is going to make a change to the ban, they should just bite the bullet and get it done.
I did want to say that I appreciate Susan Albright’s work on the winter parking ban. And I also acknowledge that there are a few issues that will need to be addressed if the ban is removed (for instance, adapting policies for snow emergencies, car storage on the streets, and possibly permitting). We’d probably need to address parking restrictions on specific tight residential streets.
That all takes thought, and time, and effort for something that has been in place for a long time. And there’s some politics, I assume. Inertia is easy. That’s in part why stuff doesn’t get done in Newton.
But it seems like right now, Council only has the stomach or will to make a bad thing incrementally less bad, rather than just fixing it. At best. And that’s a shame.
I’d be happy for the extra 30 days but I agree that the ban should go. Aside from unnecessary, the ban is unfair to those of us who don’t have garages.
Bah. Wish they’d voted on this last week — I got a $25 fluorescent love note from the Constabulary last night.
But as world+dog have said on this thread and elsewhere, the ban needs to go.
I appreciate Susan Albright’s hard work on every issue she’s involved in.
Are there issues that Councilor Albright doesn’t work hard on?
She never seems to stop.
I like the ban
I think it is unfair that I paid an extra $80K (or so) for a house with a garage so my neighbors do not have to look at my Scion XB in the street, and my neighbors saved the $80K and park their cars in front of my house!
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but cars in the street are ugly. I want Newton to remain the garden city, not the parking lot city.
@Jeffrey – if you wanted to live somewhere with no cars parked on the street, you should have bought a house in Weston or Lincoln. In most of Newton, most houses use driveways for parking (no garage or old detached garage used for storage). I’d love to have a garage, but there’s no legal place to put one on my lot.
As to your neighbors – would you really expect the house next to you to stay unsold because they don’t have driveways? Do you think having abandoned houses in your neighborhood is desirable? Or do you expect them to magically sprout garages at your wish?
Pure snobbery, Jeffrey.
Also, I’d like to add that my home was purchased for less than $400,000 and is 1100 square feet on a 1600 square foot lot. Not everyone can be approved for a large mortgage and spend an extra $80,000 and not everyone’s lot can accommodate a garage – or even a driveway!! Sometimes I think people in certain areas of Newton are completely out of touch with the diversity of Newton’s housing stock and neighborhoods.
OK, the consensus is in (at least here, and I bet city wide): GET RID OF THE SEASONAL PARKING BAN; IMPLEMENT TEMPORARY PARKING BANS ON NOTICE OF SNOW STORMS (with stiff fines only on those occasions). Case closed. Let’s do it!
This is just an awful repeating topic that goes no where. People with more cars than parking spots cry poor (only in Newton are people with too many cars “poor” btw). And then anyone that points out the legitimate reasons for the longstanding parking regulations is attacked: Meredith telling someone to move and Mary calling people snobs.
What’s the point?
Seems like some people won’t be happy until the City grants them exclusive use of public property free of charge!
I think a reasonable compromise would be for the City to grant parking permits, on a limited basis, with a fair-market fee for winter street parking–maybe $200 per month. If you can’t afford that then I’m sorry to say you can’t afford a car. To demand the whole city accommodate your parking situation is just ridiculous, particularly since the obvious consequences of inviting thousands more cars in cramped City is a very real concern that has not been adequately considered.
It isn’t that people have “too many cars” that are affected by this – some people have no spot for their ONE and ONLY car!
@David M – I didn’t tell anyone to move. I told him some communities he could have bought a house in which wouldn’t have offended his sensibilities. I couldn’t care less if he wants to stay on his street and complain about conditions that already existed before he bought there.
And, as MMQC says, most of the people complaining about the ban don’t have large numbers of cars for their households, and the rest of us are supporting them. It doesn’t make any sense at all to punish them during one season of the year when most days are safe to park, but does discriminate against those in Newton who aren’t in high income brackets.
@Merridith, the “conditions that already existed before he bought there” were most likely a winter parking ban, which has been in place for decades now.
The city-wide winter parking policy is not discriminatory–it’s applied equally to all. There are a lot of things people can’t afford–but the City’s lack of providing for these things is hardly discrimination!
Why not offer to pay a fair market value for a parking space? That would be simpler than asking the whole City to upend it’s parking policy for the “one car”.
And again, people ignore the obvious consequences of streets log-jammed with thousands of more cars, and neighbors arguing over who gets to park where putting out space savers, which already happens in my neighborhood. If you wanted THAT then you should have move into Boston.
David M, the arbitrary parking ban is most definitely discriminatory – which has nothing to do with being applied equally to all. Discrimination pertains to inequities in policy, including economic inequality. In addition, unless you want the city to tear down the older, historic homes and the many multi-family homes that are common in Newton in order to redistribute the land so that all residents have adequate off-street parking, then the descrimination also depends on where a resident lives.
Where are you getting the statics proving that Newton’s streets “log jammed with thousands of cars.”
@David –
If someone objects to seeing cars parked on the street, I assume they object to it all year, not just in the winter. And since our streets aren’t log-jammed with cars in spring, summer, and fall, I can’t see why getting rid of the winter parking ban would change that.
Many of the people without parking don’t have available spaces at fair market rate within a reasonable distance from their homes.
And something that applies to all can be discriminatory in its effects. Fees for after school activities, for example, mean that children whose families can’t afford the fees can’t participate – which discriminates against lower income families.
Meredith has it right. Newton has many discriminatory policies.
As far as the parking ban is concerned, I would like the city council to give thought to how pressing instituting the ban, except for snow energies, would be if Newton didn’t already have one. I doubt it would get anywhere particularly since the city officials dealing with snow removal say it’s not neccesssry. It’s a ridiculous policy with no benefit.
I’m late to the party but to explain: As a first step we are trying to shorten the parking ban as a second step we are trying to do a pilot that would get rid of the ban in 4 precincts of wards 2 and 3. What I learned from Captain Anastasia at the PS & T meeting was that there used to be a ban on overnight parking on all the streets of Newton which has eroded to just a winter parking ban. From my research, i would guess that 85-90% of Newton homes have a driveway and garage to handle the parking ban. But for the 10-15% of Newton residents, there is a huge burden to find a place to put cars in the winter. Councilor Kelley and I have researched neighboring communities. Those that have a parking ban – which are not the majority, do a good job of helping residents with a place to put their cars.
We met with the Chief of Police- he supports a pilot, but for good reason, he does not want a permit program. It would be very difficult for the limited number of overnight police to deal with snow and frost to determine which cars have a permit and which do not. Our next steps are to talk with Commissioner DeRubeis about school parking lots and the transportation division of DPW to see if they have any concerns about winter parking on narrow streets during the winter. It is our hope to take this pilot back to PS&T in January. (BTW – I bet there is a technology solution for a permit program so that people get a chip which can be read by a device so no one has to get out of a car – but it will take time to develop that)
I have heard the argument that people pay more to have a home with sufficient space for cars. The financial argument does not help people find a place to put their car in the winter.
I have no idea whether or not the shortened ban will pass tomorrow night. If i had to guess I would say it will not. (Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised!) I hope that we will be allowed to run a pilot so that we can learn what no parking ban would mean for Newton – how well it would work and if the streets can be sufficiently cleared.
Thank you for your hard work, Susan. I hope that some reasonable resolution comes of it.
Susan, since it seems pretty clear that a majority of Newton residents would simply favor getting rid of the seasonal ban in favor of temporary bans on notice of significant snow, why all the rigamoral and partial steps. Just get rid of the seasonal ban. Give the people what most want. Case closed.
I don’t quite see what the point of maintaining a winter parking ban in neighborhoods where people have driveways and don’t park on the streets. That maintains the nuisance impact on people who have overnight visitors staying over on the holidays. It’s completely senseless.
I also don’t understand the Chief’s objections. A residential parking enforcement program does not require 100% constant enforcement. It requires a sufficiently large fine and the threat of possible towing for deterrence. Police and transportation departments all across the US implement residential parking. I’m genuinely interested in the extra challenges that Newton would face.
Currently, the police seem extremely (I would say excessively) diligent about winter parking enforcement. The couple of times we or our guests have parked on the street over the last few years, we’ve gotten tickets those nights. What function, besides revenue enhancement, does this level of enforcement serve? And how does it mesh with this idea that we don’t have enough police for enforcement?
Why can’t enforcement be done using registered license plates?
As for the idea of “market rate” parking, I think it’s generally an OK idea; residential parking rates in Boston, for example, are extremely low. I also don’t think that most people who need off-street parking would balk at a $200 or so permit fee, since now they are likely paying more than that in tickets or inconvenience. I don’t know if it’s the fairest solution, but what we have today isn’t fair.
I would SO love to hear what justification the city has for keeping it. I’m waiting…
Not so clear and obvious, at least to me. If it were so obvious that we should do away with the winter parking ban, it would have been done away with long ago.
I can certainly sympathize with people who have two cars and one parking space, or one car with no parking space – maybe even for the folks with two parking spaces but three or four vehicles. Definitely, I can understand the frustration that folks feel when their visitors stay overnight, but with nowhere for them to easily park.
I can also appreciate that the City has a clear goal of trying to reduce traffic congestion (an impossible dream?), encouraging alternatives to driving (seems to be happening), and trying to discourage people from bringing additional vehicles into the city, including college kids living in dorms (a la overnight winter parking ban). With the overnight parking ban in place, people *do* have to think more deeply about bringing another car into Newton. If we decide to do away with the overnight parking ban entirely, there will be more cars parked on city streets all the time, and more cars on our roads. I’m certain that when neighbors start to experience more cars parked on their neighborhood street, all year round, shifting around a little bit every week to avoid being towed as an “abandoned vehicle”, there will be calls for more parking restrictions and more signage to get these vehicles off their streets (in the interest of “public safety” and “trash/recycling vehicles”, of course).
Al, if what you’re saying were the case, why not have a year long ban instead of just winter ban?? That’s essentially what you’re arguing.
Remember, we’re just discussing winter ban – which I’m assuming is premised on snow and plowing. Am I missing something here?
None of the points that Al, David, or Jeffrey have made are at all related to the winter parking ban. They want to reduce or eliminate on-street parking in general. And IMO, with all of this proposed development the parking ban is going to have to be eliminated. Our public transit is not strong enough for most people (families, people who commute west or on 128) to move to Newton without cars and the parking for most of these buildings won’t be sufficient for everyone.
@Jeffrey, I think it would be unfair to your neighbors if you didn’t park that ugly toaster oven out of sight of the general public.
Jim
Respectfully, I am clearly *NOT* arguing to institute a year-round overnight on-street parking ban.
I am very well aware of the fact that many Newton residents don’t have access to enough off-street parking to meet all their parking needs, and that this is a big problem for them. It is relevant to note that many of the *NEW* housing developments that are being approved contain 1 or 1.5 new parking spaces/new unit, with the hope/goal that these NEW residents will move here without bringing additional cars with them. I guess that if we do away with the winter overnight ban, there will be nothing to stop folks from bringing all the cars they want with them.
Clearly, on-street overnight parking is convenient for everybody. I know that, and I’m not advocating to make things more difficult for folks. I’m also not the one that is advocating to allow unlimited on-street overnight parking year-round.
I am just saying that there are various factors that ought to be carefully considered. One example: Removal of this specific legislative barrier that has the effect of limiting the number of cars in Newton = More cars in Newton.
Of course we should continue to allow cars to park on our public streets overnight most of the year. In a way, it’s about trying to balance the needs of the community with the goals of the community.
The current ban also obviously has to do with the ease of plowing, salting, and the overall street narrowness in the winter, which is probably why — when the original year-round overnight parking ban was eliminated — it was retained for winter snow removal operations. (Not sure whether this is true.)
Do you not see any negative consequences of allowing year-round unrestricted on-street overnight parking for anybody who wants to park here (except during major plowing events)?
Al – I just really don’t.
Al, yes, there are issues that will have to be addressed if it becomes possible to park year-round on the streets of Newton. Every post I’ve made on this thread states that.
So let’s address them, rather than putting the burden on people who happen to live in higher-density parts of the City (and the occasional guests of other people throughout Newton). If we explicitly address those issues, maybe we can address them better than using the winter parking ban.
If the purpose of the winter parking ban is explicitly to do those things you mentioned, then let’s be explicit about it. I don’t believe I’ve heard a single City Councilor make a statement about specific reasons for supporting the continued ban.
I think the best way to move forward would be for the Council to ask for a planning document on the impact on Newton of lifting the winter parking ban, alternative methods of mitigating negative impact, and the larger goals the City might pursue in setting parking policy.
That way, we can make decisions based on good information, and not just rely on the status quo. We’ll be able to address issues that may arise with new, higher-density development.
No one is asking to eliminate street parking altogether.
Reasons for the seasonal parking limits:
1) Snow plowing
2) Salt and sanding
3) Street cleaning
4) Helps prevent too many cars on the street that wouldn’t be able to relocate episodically
Plus, like it or not, it’s a defacto limit on the number of cars in the City. We want developers to provide off-street parking. We want college students to park on campus. Our policy should NOT be, “buy/bring as many cars as you can afford and leave them anywhere.”
We NEED to be able to salt, sand, clear snow and effectively operate street cleaners, which the latter is greatly underappreciated since it helps keep our waterways clean and greatly reduces sewer cleaning and brook/pond dredging costs. Just this morning I passed a clogged storm drain.
Despite claims to the contrary, there is no technology in existence to clean under cars–other than the tow truck.
David M – I completely agree with your #1, 2, and 3. A flexible snow event ban would allow the city to determine when the streets are plowed, sanded, and salted.
Good news for the holidays. The Newton PD just posted on FB:
The Newton PD just posted:
Per order of the Chief of Police, enforcement of the overnight parking ban will be suspended for both the Christmas and New Year holidays. Enforcement of the parking ban will not take place starting on Sunday, December 23rd and will resume on January 2nd at 2am.
If there is a declared snow emergency during those dates, cars will need to be removed from the streets for the duration of the snow emergency as usual to allow for plowing.
Have a safe holiday!
The Newton Police Dept.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Newton-MA-Police-Department-110909679078868/posts/?ref=notif
I always think that the fact that they can lift the ban for holidays really proves that the ban isn’t necessary. That said, I’ll be happy to sleep in those days!
Great news!
Of course, enforcement took place in Newton corner on. 65 degree Friday night before Christmas.
Our whole block got tagged. Bah humbug.
Just wanted to note that the ban was enforced once again on a night with no snow on the ground or in the forecast. There is absolutely no need for this ban.
I will be potentially paying $25 tonight so my overnight guests can park on my street. Welcome to Newton!
But at least plows will be able to get through tonight!
Anyone know anything about this? There’s a post on Newton Parents from someone saying that they got a ticket when parked in their driveway because there’s an old law saying that you must be parked at least five feet from the street during the winter. Apparently they didn’t enforce it for a long time but now they are. (On a pretty snowiest winter) So the city can really ticket someone for parking in their own driveway now???
Is anyone know the result of this vote?
@All: Ward 2 Councilors Norton, and Albright, and W3 Councilors Brousal-Glaser, Kelley, and myself had an item before the Public Safety Committee this past Wednesday eve to establish a “pilot” winter “on street” parking program for parts of Newtonville and West Newton (On the Ward Map its precincts 2/1, 3/1, 3/3, and 3/4). We did this since we live and drive within these precincts and feel that its a quality of life issue that can be solved.
Despite our clearly stated intent for the pilot and the defined boundaries, agreements with the DPW, and Police, and Fire, our colleagues tabled the item once again to next year. Their reasons are many, and though valid in their parts of the city, have no bearing on the need for this parking change in West Newton.
We are working to make this happen, and will need your support to carry this through.
Wow. So in spite of agreements with DPW, police and fire departments, some councilors still decided to table the discussion? I’d love to know which councilors keep tabling this because I won’t be supporting any of them in future elections.
In my neighborhood there seems to be a way of getting around the parking ban.
There are numerous people that actually parallel park there car into the apron of there driveway.
The cars block the sidewalk for 7-9 hours each night. They don’t seem to get tickets because they do this every night during the parking ban. (Unless the ticket for parking on the sidewalk is less than one for the street.)
Blocking a sidewalk is a $15 ticket vs. $25 – which is crazy, because blocking a sidewalk is a genuine safety concern because it forces pedestrians to walk in the street!
Other tickets that are cheaper than parking on the street during the ban:
Too close to fire station $15
Parking within an intersection $15
Parking a safety zone $15
Parking in a bus stop $15
Obstructing traffic $15
Ridiculous that parking in front of my house in the winter (outside of a snow emergency) results in a more expensive ticket than OBSTRUCTING TRAFFIC!