Reason Behind the 48-hour Parking Rule

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

There has been some talk in this community about the 48-hour parking rule. Can someone explain the rationale behind this law? I have a car, but I take the "T" or ride my bike to work, so it doesn't make sense to me to have to move my car for no reason. I understand the need to move my car for street-sweeping, but this 48-hour thing doesn't seem to have a basis.

Comments

[ron_newman]

But a 14-day rule (already in effect because of street sweeping) would be sufficient to do that.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Again, you'd have the problem of jerks treating Somerville like a parking garage. A time period of that length practically screams "ABUSE ME!"

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

But it seems to me that a large majority of people who have issue with this are parking in resident spots anyway -- I know that's where I park almost 100% of the time. I mean, the car gets used to go to the grocery and to go out of town, and that's it. I'm lucky that my street is usually pretty easy for parking, but it can be a frustrating rule. An example: when you leave town for more than 2 days without your car.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, those "resident parking" signs are absolutely meaningless in terms of actual enforcement. Also, this won't slow down the kind of self-involved jerk who thinks sucking up other people's tax dollars is AOK.

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

That's not true. I know non-residents who have gotten tickets for parking on my street.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

And how many non-residents got away scott-free?

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Interesting that you think that. People get ticketed on my steet within mere hours (less than 10 minutes, once -- it's like they pop out of the bushes!!) without resident stickers. In fact, resident stickers ticketing is the most strictly enforced thing on my street and every street I've lived on in Somerville (Raymond, Morrison, and Ossipee), excluding street sweeping. Where are you having this non-enforcement issue?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

My ex used to own a car and we lived on Winter Hill. She sometimes had to park six blocks from our building because non-resident cars absolutely clogged the resident parking. I actually went car-to-car once and marked down who had stickers and who didn't, and the majority didn't.

Not only that, some jerk with an Oregon license plate planted his Jeep in front of someone's house and it squatted there for two weeks. The owner of the house finally got it towed, but it was like pulling teeth for the poor guy.

Somerville might have improved their parking enforcement since then (apparently it has according to the anecdotal evidence on here).

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

It could vary by neighborhood, too; I haven't lived on Winter Hill yet.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

In most parts of Winter Hill you can park without a resident sticker until midnight. It's only resident parking from midnight to early morning.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

A: I see non-residents ticketed a lot, on non-major arteries.

B: "sucking up other people's tax dollars"

If you're referring to somerville residents leaving their cars parked "too long", (which it seems you are, based on it being a second, almost counterpointed argument), don't they pay resident sticker fees, property tax (either directly as owners, or indirectly through rent) as well as "excise tax" for owning a vehicle?

How many times do you want them to pay?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I'm talking about non-residents, actually. My main concern is that if the time limit is extended, we'll have idiots trying to take advantage of that so they don't have to pay for parking. Even if they do wind up getting ticketed and towed, that's still going to have to be paid for by the city.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Even if they do wind up getting ticketed and towed, that's still going to have to be paid for by the city.

How?
You get towed for violating the parking law YOU pay for it.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I should clarify: "non-resident"="Somebody who does not live in the Somerville area."

[ron_newman]

No, if someone from Cambridge or Medford left their car in a resident space in Somerville, they'd still get ticketed.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

When was the last time you saw Parking Enforcement out and about on the side streets?

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

I see them all the time. Sometimes the guy smokes a cigar.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Today!

[ron_newman]

I see them almost every day on Orchard and Day streets.

[warlord-mit.livejournal.com]

At least once a week I see one come down mine, but my street isn't resident-only.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

On Jay Street? Twice, three times a day sometimes.

[nonnihil.livejournal.com]

When we were house hunting, we got ticketed in the 20 minutes we were inside of one house to take a look around. Some side streets have incredibly aggressive enforcement. I think the problem may be more that the enforcement is uneven.

(We ended up buying that house, so now we have permits. Of course now we have a driveway, too...)

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I'd agree with you, the anecdotal evidence is lining up for uneven enforcement.

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

I'd argue the anecdotal evidence suggests draconian enforcement within a ten minute walk of Davis, and uneven elsewhere.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I don't feel that it would. People are STILL marking shoveled out spaces. I feel like there's already a problem with territorialism to some extent and that my having to move often emphasizes that no one street space is "your" space. I agree that 48 hours seems a bit much since it doesn't even allow people to leave town, but I think 14 days is too long. I think 7 days is about right. Because under the current rule, T&P would have to *observe themselves* that you were gone 7 days so you'd likely get a day or two extra on top of the initial 7.