davis_square | City ticketing on dead-end streets- others' experiences?

We live on one of the many dead-end streets here in Somerville. For the past untold number of years, the very end of the street has essentially accommodated three parking spots: one against each curb, and one in the middle. I have seen this set-up on other dead-end streets I've visited or come across.

Recently we received a ticket for parking in that middle space that was marked as "double parking- 100% blocking." Yes, as if it were a through street and not parked in front of a fence and earthwork berm that couldn't be driven through if you tried.
Since that time, about a week ago, we noticed other cars in the neighborhood also getting tickets while parked there, at least for the first few days after we did. We've spread the word as best we can with our neighbors, and intend to appeal the ticket through the in-person process (knowing that written appeals are automatically rejected no matter how wrongly the ticket was written).

I'm meeting with our alderman about this soon, and wanted to see if others in the community have also had an uptick in either this exact issue or similar parking enforcement oddities? Again, this spot has been used in this way by all of us on the street for years, if not decades, so this is either a new enforcement tactic based on a strict "interpretation" of the law, or a few new officers who, I dunno, don't realize what a dead-end street is.

Thanks for sharing; I don't intend to use any input in a formal way as part of the appeal, but it would be interesting to know whether it's just our street or others in the city that have seen this.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If you are parked in the middle space, and someone else parks behind either other car, that car would be blocked in. Maybe that's what they're thinking? I suppose it would depend on the particulars of the street.

Edited 2015-11-16 21:28 (UTC)

In that situation, maybe.

On our street, the two curb-based spots are the last spots on the street, with a driveway "behind" them. So there's only room for one car to part there unless a car blocks a driveway, as well.

The middle spot blocks... nothing.

I should note that we all park facing "inward" as if it were a one-way street, but it's clearly a two-way street (or we'd never leave). It's always been that way, although occasionally you'll see someone who came into the street, turned around, and parked facing "outward" as one would see on a normal two-way thru street (ie: passenger door next to curb). Those are the exceptions to the rule, though. Interestingly, I would think they'd ticket those on the left-hand side of the street for parking facing the "wrong" way, but they don't. They instead chose this odd way to maximize city revenue.

Unless I just gave them another idea unwittingly...

You must have a better Alderman than I. I wrote to mine to complain about parking issues. His response was that the Alderman are legistative and parking issues fall squarely into the executive branch and that I would need to call 311. Not overly helpful. In a small city such as ours, I know that Alderman can make a difference no matter where the department falls.

Best of luck!

Wow, what a crappy cop-out. Your ward alderman is your ward's elected representative to the city.

If you look through the Board of Aldermen minutes, a huge chunk of what they vote on are orders for city departments anyway.

Which ward are you in?

Edited 2015-11-17 00:59 (UTC)

That stinks-- it's not like I expect mine to overturn the ticket, but it's my understanding (per keithn's comment) that the board can request information and clarity from the departments. My goal is to find out if this spot on my already densely-parked small street is verboten for real, or whether it's completely incorrect ticketing going on. If it's the former, put a sign up. If it's the latter, well, thanks for making me take time off of work to fight this ridiculous ticket. And since the time lapse between ticketing and appeal is weeks, I was hoping for clarity a little sooner.

That's the least an alderman/woman can do, IMHO.

My issue was that a number of contractors were issued temporary NO PARKING signs on the same street for the same time. This made it so there weren't any spaces available for those of us who live in the neighborhood to park. I wasn't expecting my alderman to do anything directly about it but more see if there's a better system to schedule NO PARKING postings. Seems there should be some coordination either by the contractors or the Parking office. He wasn't any help other than telling me to call 311, which I don't know what that would do as it is really a policy issue I was asking about.

I agree both of you...this seems like a perfect issue for the legislative body of our city (and even if it truly isn't, the alderman are here to help the citizens!) Too bad the people we elect and paid to do so, don't agree.

When I served as Alderman, there were a few parking issues that I dealt with. I don't know why your Alderman would tell you that it's out of their hands - it certainly isn't. Requesting that the Traffic and Parking Department come up with a solution to this issue sounds like a fine Board order to me. I would highly encourage you to contact your Aldermen at Large as they aren't afraid to tackle parking issues. Similarly to keithn, I'm also very interested in knowing what Ward you live in.

I'm one of your former residents! Ward 5. I did reach out to an Alderman at Large too...Never heard back.

If there's anything I can do to help, please feel free to get in touch with me.

I'll say the same thing I've been saying about the 20 foot rule at corners:

If the city thinks there's a safety issue with parking in that spot, they can easily solve the problem by posting No Parking signs.

If they don't post signs, and people keep parking there, and they keep writing tickets, it's evidence that the policy is failing to serve its intended purpose.

Its stated purpose.

I think, given their unwillingness to consider marking those zones, it's obvious it's intended as a revenue generation scheme.

City ticketing on dead-end streets- others' experiences?

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