No more non-permit parking, according to the CoC

[witzwurst.livejournal.com]

The Somerville Chamber of Commerce has just posted a notice regarding some rather strident rule changes apparently implemented by the Traffic and Parking Commission last Thursday. There's no effective date as of yet, nor any official announcement from the City, although these items are all on the official agenda from last Thursday's meeting.

Full details (in PDF form) are here: http://www.somervillechamber.org/news_images/5_25_09/09newparkingregs.pdf

Highlights of the changes include:

• implementation of "Residential Permit Parking on all public streets in the City of Somerville Monday through Saturday, 24 hours"
• extension of meter hours to 10:00 PM in Davis Square and Magoun Square
• extension of meter hours to 8:00 PM in all other parts of Somerville
• a 100% increase in meter rates from $0.50/hr to $1.00/hr

This seems like a huge loss for those who work -- but don't reside -- in Somerville; they'll essentially no longer be able to park on City streets. Seems like an odd decision for a city trying to encourage business development. If you don't like the proposed changes, I strongly suggest you contact your alderperson.

Comments

[ron_newman]

Why Magoun? I don't think of that as a hotbed of evening entertainment.

If they extend the effective hours of meters I hope they also extend the amount of time you can feed the meter at once (to at least 4 hours instead of the current 2 or 3).

I also don't understand why the Traffic and Parking Commission thinks these changes would be good for either residents or businesses. The Board of Aldermen should consider overruling them or at least delaying them for more public input.

[witzwurst.livejournal.com]

A bit more digging turned up this article from March, when they were apparently only "investigating" it:

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=670&TM=10778.43

I really just don't understand the logic. Except, of course, the familiar quest for revenue.

[ron_newman]

That seems to be anticipating the Green Line -- so why not wait until the line is built before making such changes?

no non-permit parking??

[rmd.livejournal.com]

it'll also be a problem for those who reside in the city and sometimes drive company vehicles home overnight, as some of my neighbors do.

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

I like the fact that one of the streets my house is on is not permit-only. I find it convenient. Our street had a petition started to make it permit required like most of the ones near it, and it didn't get enough local support to pass. Now it's going to happen anyway, despite the will of the people who actually live there.

Well, that was the will of the people living on the street about ten years ago. Maybe it's changed since then, but I have not seen anybody trying to get actual information.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

maybe it's a cargo cult thing, where we set up the surrounding changes and then the green line will appear.

Re: no non-permit parking??

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

There is guest permit parking as an option, though no parking of commercial vehicles is allowed overnight.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

you, ma'am, win one internets for today.

[pushupstairs.livejournal.com]

The increase from $.50/hr to $1.00 an hour is not a concern in my opinion. I can't name another place where a quarter buys you a full half-hour at a parking meter. If they were suggesting an increase to anything above, say, $2.00, maybe that would be a real issue.

But the rest of that document is total bunk. If I still lived in Somerville, I'd be calling my aldercritter immediately.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

This is fucking bullshit on so many levels it's not even funny. Pretty ballsy of them to sneak this through. One reason I chose to live where I do is because I don't have to bother with permits and can entertain friends without any worry of them getting ticketed. And gee, in the 6+ years I have lived here, only 3 or 4 times have I ever had to park more than a 3 minute walk from my place.

Yeah, I know- we'll be issued 2 guest permits an address. Well, most of my friends live elsewhere and now, if I want to have a party, what do my friends do? Only 2 of them get permits. Is the city going to establish guest lots? Or if we have more than the city-sanctioned number of guests, those in excess will end up with $50 or $100 tickets? Or will they have to take the T and they have to leave relatively early?

You know, there's been these outreach plans for citizens to weigh in on issues and it seemed like, especially when it comes to parking, that the city was finally pulling its head out of its ass and at least putting forth the appearance of listening to people. But for the city to do this without asking for input, it's really outrageous. If this goes through and I am still in Somerville the next election, I'm immediately voting against every incumbent.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

my end of my street is non-permit too. (closer to the square i think it goes permit-only.) a couple years ago someone came by with a petition to make it permit-only on the theory that it would stop students from tufts from parking here, but considering how far a walk it is to tufts, and how inconvenient it would be for students to park their cars down here, i can't imagine making the street permit-only would have much effect. nothing happened anyway.

[geekpixie.livejournal.com]

While I agree with many of your points, they do make allowances for parties, you just have to notify them and get temp passes that are $1. I've never lived in a place in Somerville that wasn't permit parking, and having parties still hasn't been a problem :)

http://www.somervillema.gov/section.cfm?org=traffic&page=916

[turil.livejournal.com]

I like Arlington and Belmont's laws, myself...

No overnight parking anywhere on the streets.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

That's not cool. I can see changes in Magoun if the Green Line goes there, but meters till 10 in Davis is ridiculous.

8 is already late enough to discourage commuters from taking the spot for the entire night. But 10 would discourage people from going out to dinner or a movie in the square.

15 minutes per quarter is ridiculous too. Parts of Cambridge have this, and it discourages shopping in the area. Just last week I wanted to pop into the Galleria for something, had to keep watching my time cause only had three quarters in my pocket.

And we need a few non-permit streets as a "safety valve" of sorts for unexpected visitors and whatnot.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

The next phase is to build some tracks out of bamboo and wait for the trolley to show up.

[svilletheatre.livejournal.com]

We at the theatre are particularly concerned about the meters being extended until 10pm. I think this is going to hurt many of the local businesses in the square, particularly the restaurants and ourselves. Not even Boston (as far as I know) or Brookline have meters so late. I don't mind (or rather, dislike less) the idea of the meter prices going up, but extending the time into the evening that late is a guarantee that people will go elsewhere. Any business can tell you how hard it is to get a customer back once you lose them; I am sure the first time someone gets a $30 ticket because they didn't realize the meters went so late is going to also be the moment they decide next time to bypass Davis and go eat or see a movie somewhere with a big free parking lot.

We do more than 75% of our business after 6pm and while realistically most of our customers don't have to or choose to drive, enough of them do to make a difference in our bottom line. I am sure, especially given the economy, many restaurants are barely making it - and losing 5% or 10% of their business because Davis is the only place with late night meters is going to hurt these places in a big way - nobody is making that high of a profit margin that they can kiss 5-10% goodbye.

Add to that for us personally it would be tough for people to have to leave their movies or concerts in the middle to feed the meters - and some artists have a no re-admittance policy that would further complicate things.

As for the permit parking - I think it is a major misstep forcing all streets into permit only. A lot of dissatisfied voters out there with something that effects 50% of the streets.

I will add that the Aldermen do not vote on this - it is the traffic commission, all of whom are appointed I believe. I complained to Rebekah Gewirtz as soon as I heard about this and she very kindly went to the commission meeting and plead our case to them - and she called me back immediately and was very understanding about how this would effect us and others - but she doesn't vote in this situation, she only represents her constituents.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Come on, guest passes for parties are only a buck each. They are not even that hard to get.

[anyee.livejournal.com]

Ditto in Brookline. When I was looking at housing there, I had to factor in the 125-175 dollar per month parking fee.

This is also the case in the entire city of Providence. Not like anyone actually lives there.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the link and did not know about the temp passes. Still.... having to "register zee guest-enziis unt zey must zhow zier avtomobile papers, jawol".... just really really rubs me the wrong way.

I especially like the little bit that:

Please be advised that new parking regulations were passed by the Traffic & Parking Commission and do not require Board of Aldermen approval. The new regulations are subject to possible review by a three-member Traffic Board.

WTF????? Not subject to review by the Alderman???

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Ok, so I wake up Saturday morning and think "you know, it's going to be a really nice day today, I think I'll invite a dozen friends over for a cookout this afternoon." I'll be able to just hop online or head over to the police station and buy passes? And it's the larger principle involved here. I chose to live in this particular neighborhood precisely to avoid all the "resident permit" and "guest pass" bullshit.

If people move into those areas, they do so willingly and understand that this is part of living in that particular neighborhood. Maybe folks don't view the whole having to pay a buck a car and spend time out of their day so they can invite friends over to be that big a hassle.

It so happens, I do view it as a big hassle and for an appointed board to single-handedly decide to change this AND claim the Aldermen have no power to change the decision.... sorry, that's bullshit and I hope the Aldermen stand up and reassert some semblence of control.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Thank you for weighing in. Yes, this will especially affect your theater because we know there are some directors who, ahem, like long 2+ hour movies. And then there are concerts. So that puts your patrons in a bind and you are correct- at a time when we should be taking measures to ENCOURAGE business, this is a huge step to drive folks away. The fact that they might end up with god knows how much of a ticket might be the thing that makes them say "screw it, I'll go to the Kendall or the Coolidge Corner instead.

[witzwurst.livejournal.com]

While the aldermen don't have a direct say in approving the actions of the board, they do have control over the laws that give Traffic and Parking that power.

The "three person committee" with review powers mentioned in the CoC press release appears to be composed of Aldermen Trane, Roche, and Pero.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

Seriously, Ron. Like the T has any money to begin the Green Line project anyways. If that thing is built before 2018, I'll be shocked.

Their "logic" reminds me of the small town I lived in up in NH. About 20 years ago, they decided to put up the first set of traffic lights in town. They put them up and wired everything, but then they didn't activate them for a month- just left them blinking. The reason, according to one member of the Town Council, was "to give residents a chance to get used to them." And honest to gawd, all I could think was that they were scared it would be like when the cavemen first saw fire: "what is this strange thing"?

So, yeah, we better have 6-8 years to "get used" to the idea of parking permits.

[witzwurst.livejournal.com]

Adjustment will cost you $25/year, please. ($15 permit + two guest cards at $5 each)

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

plus $1 for each additional guest and $100 a pop for when I have an out-of-state visitor who stays more than 2 days on the guest permit.

So much for Freedom of Association. How much cash do you have, Jack?