Parking - just what is an "intersection?"

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

So last night I parked in a spot in front of my apartment that I have been parking in for over 3 years. This morning I come out & have a ticket for not being 20 feet from the intersection. The "intersection" is a private way (to me this is like a drive way, not a real intersection, perhaps I'm wrong?) In the 3+ years I have lived here this has never been enforced on Richardson Street. When I look at the 5 spots on our street technically that leaves us with only 2 spots if we need to be 20' from every driveway & private way.

So what EXACTLY is considered an intersection in Somerville? Do driveways & private ways fall under intersections???

Comments

[overstim.livejournal.com]

If its really a driveway then thats not really an intersection, but most private ways I've ever seen really are roads, just narrower than usual. Id say they would want to enforce this rule MORE on intersections with private ways, because fire apparatus have trouble turning down them.

[ron_newman]

But private ways are really just shared driveways, owned jointly by all of their abutters. The city doesn't maintain them, pave them, sweep them, or clear snow on them.

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

this is my thought since no one else is allowed to park on these private ways except the people who live there.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Legally a private way is like a shared driveway, but the traffic patterns on a private way are more like that of a road. I think it makes sense to treat a private way as a road for parking and traffic regulations.

[noire.livejournal.com]

The same thing happened to me about a month ago! I think it might just have to do with the parking officer at the moment. GRRRR.

We didn't contest it, but one might be able to do that.

[tom-champion.livejournal.com]

Driveway curb cuts are not considered intersections: it's illegal to block them but not to park right next to them.

But the intersection between a public and private way IS an intersection for the purposes of traffic and parking enforcement. The City and all of its residents have a shared interest in maintaining emergency vehicle access to the homes on private ways: if there's a fire on Greenville Terrace (private way), you don't want it to spread if you live on Greenville Street (public way).

Several years ago, the City began stepping up enforcement of the 20 ft rule (a statewide regulation, by the way) especially where parking habits threatened access for snow plows and other emergency vehicles. Folks have been complaining ever since about uneven enforcement. (Obstruction is in the eye of the beholder.)

You certainly have the right to dispute a ticket like this, especially if you have parked for years in the exact same spot without getting a ticket and you explain to the hearing officer that, now that you know, you won't do it again. But anyone who parks near the intersection with a private way should look at the geometry and ask "Could a fire engine make the turn?" If the answer is no, then (forgive the pun), you're playing with fire.

And, Ron, for the same reasons of emergency access and public safety, the City sometimes does plow -- and even pave -- selected private ways and portions of private ways. It's yet another pragmatic coping mechanism in New England's most densely populated city. (Somerville remains in the top ten communities in the nation when it comes to packing in the most people and cars per square mile.)

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

I am planning to contest it. Normally I would just pay it, but this ticket really bothers me. I can count on 2 fingers the number of tickets I have received in my 15 years of driving & no surprise they've all been since moving to Somerville.

[mjrocks98.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info Tom! I do plan to contest it because of the uneven enforcement - I've parked there for over 3 years, why all of a sudden a ticket?

I am a bit bothered by your statement about the city paying to pave some private ways - why are tax dollars going to pave private ways if they are technically privately owned? Shouldn't the owners be paying for that paving & even for the snow removal? I think my other neighbors with driveways would love it if Somerville paid to pave their drives & remove their snow.

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

Did someone new just move onto your little street? It's possible they called the parking office to complain. Maybe someone on that private way has a big truck and wasn't able to easily make the turn.

[overstim.livejournal.com]

that is not always true. I lived on a street marked as a "private way" yet it was treated just like any other street.

[cnoocy]

If paving a private way means that the fire trucks can get to and put out a fire in my neighbor's house before it turns into a conflagration that takes out my entire block, I don't mind my taxes paying for it.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

exactly! I wish more people understood how being "civic minded" is really in their own best interests. It's true on *so many* levels.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you're still reading this group and responding, Tom! (and I hope the new job is treating you well.)

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

There are some private ways which are cross streets - I used to live near Porter, and Kimball Street (between Craigie and Lowell) was marked as a private way, but everyone drives on it. So it's probably good that it's plowed.

(I don't actually think that the land in a private way is *owned* by the abutters - I read this article:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/02/10/private_ways_public_access/
which does not entirely enlighten me.)

[tom-champion.livejournal.com]

Folks who live on private ways pay exactly the same property taxes that the rest of us do, and -- private property or not -- there are severe limits on what they can do with their "shared driveway." Collectively, we all have a shared interest in maintaining access to our entire community. When our streets -- private or city-owned -- look good and work well, everyone benefits. When emergency responders have adequate access to every home in the city in all weathers, we all benefit.
In the end, it comes back to the words I used earlier, "pragmatic" and "coping."

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

I've gotten a ticket for being too close to a private way, too. Way before the parking enforcement ramped up, too.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

Private ways are still access roads, not driveways. The city does not maintain them, however, emergency responders still have a right and a need to be able to traverse them and impeding an ERV responding to a call makes the issue a matter for ticketing.

FWIW, if you blocked my driveway, I'd have your car towed at your expense. If you're parked on the corner of a narrow road that impeded vehicles from traveling it, you get a ticket.

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

Yes, but the problem is that if this rule is truly enforced there is only maybe 5 spots on Richardson street, while Richardson Tarrace, Vinal Street, Fennel Street, Roberts Street and Cutler Street are all private roads. Each one of them has more than double the amount of parking spots than Richardson St.

As a tax paying citizen of Richardson street I'm not legally allowed to park on streets for but technically pay to pave and clear them.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I do plan to contest it because of the uneven enforcement - I've parked there for over 3 years, why all of a sudden a ticket?

I would suggest that you avoided getting tickets for the illegal parking you did over those 3 years, and the fact that the city let you get away with it is probably not something you should bring up.

[shaggy-man.livejournal.com]

I'm still trying to figure out the "driveway" argument. Maybe an analogy would help. Can somebody name any other two types of thing where the distinction is in who owns the thing, not its form or function?

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

Somerville is ticket-crazy. Either accept that, or move away. I doubt it's going to change unless/until enough people leave that they have to change or go under.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

"20 ft rule (a statewide regulation, by the way)"

I have not found any state law that mentions the 20 foot rule. It's a common local law around here, but that's not the same thing as a state law.

"anyone who parks near the intersection with a private way should look at the geometry and ask 'Could a fire engine make the turn?'"

No they shouldn't. A professional traffic engineer employed by the city should determine how much space a fire engine needs, and the city should inform the public by posting *signs*.

Every time the city writes a ticket for an unsigned 20-foot violation, it demonstrates that the current policy of not signing the 20-foot zone is a failure.

[no1onthecorner.livejournal.com]

There's a similar intersection on my street where they ticket routinely - it makes sense to me because there are houses at the far back of the private way, with no other access for emergency vehicles. On the other hand, people typically park on the private way itself just a couple feet from the main street, but I'd rather they continue to park there than move onto the public street.

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that I got ticketed for being too close to a driveway, one time many years ago. Now that I own a driveway, I've found that it is bothersome to get in if someone is parked right up against it. Are you sure it's ok to park right next to driveways?

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

That's all well and good, but it seems somewhat unfair that the owners get the privileges of a private driveway (IE, only they are permitted to use it, park on it, drive on it) but we all have to pay for it. If we all have to pay, then we should all be allowed equal access to the benefits, too

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Seems to me the operative question should be Would the inability of a fire truck to turn into the road (street, private way, driveway, whatever) significantly impede the ability of emergency services to assist the residents in an emergency? If the answer is yes, then the parking rule should apply.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

IMO once the city paves a private way, that should turn it into a public way.