davis_square | Visitor permits and snow emergency?

Somerville311 is currently logged on.

The answer to both of your questions is "yes." For 48 hours only.

Visitors are presumed to be temporary and visitor permits are not designed for use over 48 hours, even during snow emergencies.

For official information about City policies and procedures, please do not post here. Please call 311 (616-666-3311 from outside the city)-- or send an email to 311updates@somervillema.gov. Thank you.

Does that email address work for stupid questions about property owner responsibility? I'd hate to take up a phone line just to find out if I need to bitch about the apartment complex next door.

I think it's fine for them to post here. Now, people can look here, and, if they want/need more info, they can do the 311 thing.

Sheesh, this is a "community" too. Don't tell people what they can or cannot post; last time I checked, you weren't one of the 4 mods. I'm not, either, but I am a member, and this comment strikes me as a little presumptuous.

We apologize. This is why we should never break our own rule about responding to queries on Davis Square Live Journal. From now on, official announcements only.

And of course, the outside-the-city number is 617-666-3311.

We regret our errors.

I think the key word there is "official." People can post here all they want, but they shouldn't assume they're getting the official information that way.

I think it would be great if you responded to questions posted here that could've been asked of 311, with exactly the same answer that someone would get if they'd asked 311 through some other means. That way you wouldn't ever feel like you've overstepped what you should do - because you're just giving exactly the same information. However, the advantage would be that people could see what other people are asking.

You might also get some feedback on some of the answers you give, from other people. (Of course, then you might feel tempted to respond to the feedback, which would then go outside the bounds of what 311 does... but if you can resist the temptation... :)

Well, I am a mod...

somerville311 wasn't telling him not to post here -- they suggested he use appropriate channels if he wants an official answer, and I completely agree. It'd be far more useful for people to find out the real answer and THEN post it, rather than post here and have various folks stumble around trying to figure out what's what.

somerville311 was also nice enough to post an answer, and in gratitude, got a snarky reply from you. Thanks so much!

As a mod, I appreciate your occasional comments to answer questions, and I share your frustration with people who ask questions here that should be directed at 311. Also, I apologize on behalf of the many grateful folks for the occasional rude member.

Wow, this turned into a big spat over nothing.

I was asking the community. I didn't want only to hear about the official policy but wanted feedback from the group on how often its enforced, did people have trouble with it before, etc.

It's also nice to have something written down for future, and so that 311 doesn't get 10,000 calls about the same issue from everyone in the city who is having weekend company.

And what is this rule about 311 not responding to queries on the LJ? Lots of useful information gets shared here. Don't get upset when people get bent out of shape over nothing. Remember that hundreds of people quietly read these posts.

Thank you, for your quick response.

I had someobody coming over, assuming the snow emergency would be lifted this morning. Had never considered whether visitor's passes were allowed under emergency. And I was able to get back to them quick, based on your response here.

Yeah, I don't see how Mr./Ms.

somerville311's comment was all that different from the usual "you should try 311" answers other members often post on questions like this. In this case, we got a "you should try 311" AND an official answer. Bonus!

It's worded a bit more formally, but that's understandable coming from a representative of City Hall.

Let me be another to say:

somerville311, I think it's great that you're active in the comm, and hope you'll stick around.

As one of the moderators, I think it's wonderful for

somerville311 to respond to queries here, where everyone can see the answers. I encourage you to continue. This can make a lot of calls to 311 unnecessary, if people have already read the answers here.

I can see where you're coming from on this. I called 311 on Thursday to see what to do if I needed parking for more than 2 guests (our two regular visitor permits) and they said I could purchase additional, temporary visitor permits for $1/each at T&P.

I tried to get visitor permits a while later on Thursday from T&P for a Saturday-night party and was told that I couldn't have any because there might be a snow emergency. I said that I wasn't canceling my party (since it wasn't going to be snowing Saturday night) and yes, I knew guests would have to find odd-side parking (and obey snow emergency rules) but that they'd still need permits. I was denied visitor permits.

My roommate went in on Friday and got the same line but eventually prevailed in purchasing visitor permits.

If vehicles bearing visitor permits are allowed the same snow-emergency parking privileges, why were we given such a hard time about it?

Even amongst "official channels" there isn't always a consistent story.

Visitor permits and snow emergency?

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