Somerville parking: when do I have to move my car?

[volantwish]

This is my first year parking on the street during the snowy season, so I have a question that might be kind of silly. (I looked back in the archives a bit, and I couldn't find anything relevant, though...)

I remember reading somewhere on the Somerville website (though I can't find a link now) that a car can't be parked in the same on-street space for more than X days, even with a valid resident permit.

Is this actually a rule? If so, how many days are you allowed to go without moving your car? And is this rule actually enforced during winter?

I left my car in a nice spot on the odd-numbered side of my street before I left town last weekend, and I'd really like to not have to shovel it out before I actually need to use the car. Or possibly until spring.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated :)

Edit: Thanks, everyone, for the information. I put on my big girl pants and dug the car out tonight. This stuff is surprisingly light, for how deep it is!

Comments

[unferth.livejournal.com]

The rule is that you're supposed to move your car every 48 hours, if you're parked on city streets.

It's generally enforced only when the neighbors complain or after snow storms. So, yeah, you're probably risking a ticket at the moment.

[turil.livejournal.com]

48 hours is as long as you're allowed to park in the same spot, legally. Technically street parking is supposed to be temporary only, not your normal parking spot. Of course there are too many cars now, and everyone expects to park on the street all the time. But it's not actually legal.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I would just say that it gets harder and harder to clear a car the longer the snow has sat on it, thawing and icing and thawing and icing. My personal rec to you would be to clear it within 6-8 hours of the snowfall.

the people above are correct on their perception of the 'snowbird' rule in effect in Somerville.

[ron_newman]

However, Thursday's high will be 41, which should make clearing the snow much easier.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Ok, Ron, whatever you say. But I know that when I was 23 and first had a car here and didn't realize that the nice fluffy snow turned into hard ice you had to chip off after a few days of variable temperatures, I wish someone had had the forethought to tell me not to let my car sit with the snow on it for a week. It may be easier at 41, it may not if the bottom layer is pretty hard. I was just trying to be helpful.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

if it's already all solid you may as well wait until tomorrow, sure, but i'd add that if it's melting it's going to be *heavy* which is nearly as bad as ice chipping. definitely clear off snow while you can. it's a pain in the ass, but worth it. i myself have an igloo shape with a car in there somewhere i should be getting to...

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

In practice, just about the only time this rule is enforced is 2 days after a snowstorm, when they KNOW you haven't moved the car in the last 48 hours, so I'd say you have til tomorrow night. And at a minimum, clear the area around the permit sticker asap, because the City has been known to ticket when they can't see the permit.

[dashford.livejournal.com]

Yes, the city says it resumes ticketing for non-permitted cars 24 hours after a storm ends, and they're not "allowed" to clear snow off to see if your car has a permit.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Are they allowed to clear the snow to see your license plate? If not, then all you have to do is pile snow up to your plates, and there's no way you'll get a ticket until it melts.

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

The other time it tends to be enforced is if you've already gotten a ticket for something else (like parking too close to the intersection or driveway parking without a permit), because again, they can see that you haven't moved your car if there are still tickets from two days ago on the dash when they walk by.