Parking stickers

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Questions for the Davis Square community. I apologize if these are dumb or have already been asked.

We're moving from Medford ("ample parking day or night") to one of the streets a few blocks away from Davis. There are 4 of us moving in. In terms of getting parking stickers, all four of us have a car and will need stickers. Also, we are moving within a couple weeks time. I have some questions about setting up our parking situation.

The somerville website says you need a registration (Car registration?) and a utility bill with your name and address on them indicating that you live there. How anal is town hall about the proof of residence? Do you think we will be able to use the lease doc with our 4 names on it as proof of residency, or do we need to get utility bills first? (which would be a pain since probably one of us will be the named person on all the utilities)

Should we plan RMV trips to get our registrations all changed immediately?

Can each of the 4 of us get the 2 guest parking cards or is that 2 per-household?

Are any of the streets off Elm street near Davis non-resident parking friendly? (for when our friends visit)

Comments

[ifotismeni]

i live immediately off elm street on chester, and parking around there can be awfully tight. from what i gather, lots of people drive there and park during the day while they're at work, and then on weekends you get the slightly inebriated crowds. even so, it's a lot of resident parking there so they might drive around a while if they're looking for street parking, but i believe it's doable.
just make sure you tell your friends not to park in the private roadways -- as tempting as those open spots are, we do tow :P

[pooka-madness.livejournal.com]

The lease may or may not work, but I would bank on not based on my own experience. From what I hear some people have gotten away from it, but they seem to be the lucky exceptions to the rule. And yes, you should file a change of address with the RMV as soon as possible.

The guest parking cards are 2 per household, not 2 per resident.

As mentioned above, parking in Somerville can get very tight. These requirements are tough because they need to be, and until you have a street parking permit your car will be ticketed and eventually booted.

[library-sexy.livejournal.com]

You can change your address online (http://www.mass.gov/rmv/) so no need to go to the RMV. They mail you stickers to put on your license and registration and the parking office was fine with mine. It is a nice feature and saves a trip to the RMV where I suspect they would charge you for a new license and registration to have the information printed on it (guessing here as I always have used the online way).

When I lived in Somerville the lease with our names on it did the trick for residency.

2 guest parking cards per-household (as long as you are not on a private road then you get none).

[marphod.livejournal.com]

QUote:
Approximately one half of the city's streets are posted for PERMIT PARKING. This means you need to obtain a RESIDENTIAL sticker before you can park on these streets. Cars parked on these posted streets without a residential sticker will be ticketed. To obtain a residential sticker you must present a current, valid Mass registration showing Somerville, MA as the principal place of garaging. A registration with a sticker provided by the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) noting a Somerville address change will be verified with the RMV before a permit is issued. You must also provide proof of residency with either a bank statement, or a current (dated within 30 days of obtaining the permit) gas, electric, telephone or cable bill. The RESIDENTIAL sticker is good for all posted streets within the city and not just the street where you live. . There is a $10.00 fee, senior citizens (60+), HP plates and placards exempt.

You are entitled to receive two VISITOR CARDS per household if you live on a street that has a permit parking restriction. These cards are to be used by your visitors only twice a week in the same vehicle. Please contact the Department of Traffic & Parking at (617) 625-6600 X7900 for information regarding the issuance of temporary parking permits.

To obtain visitor cards you must show a bank statement, or a current (dated within 30 days of obtaining the permits) gas, electric, telephone, or cable bill showing the servicing address of the apartment where you are residing No Visitor Cards are to be used by residents for any reason. There is a $1.00 fee for each card; senior citizens (60+), HP plates and placards exempt.

http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/section.cfm?org=traffic&page=138

Come on, people. A google search is a better first step than posting here.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Quote: I apologize if these are dumb or have already been asked.

CHILLAX.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

You can't use your lease -- I tried.

You have to use a utility bill, but it can have someone else's name on it (as long as the address matches your RMV registration). If you don't have a bill you can also use utility install receipts. For example, if you get cable/cable Internet, they leave you with a slip after they install everything -- you can use that.

Your car must be registered to the Somerville address. You can file a change of address with the RMV and they will send you a letter and stickers to put on your current registration. You don't need to go to the RMV in person, you can change your address online. (https://www.mass.gov/secure/rmv/express/coa.htm)

Visitor placards are limited to 2 per household/address no matter how many residents. Parts of the main streets around Elm aren't resident only but most of those spots will be metered. Keep in mind that visitor permits are only good for your street and adjacent streets.

[unferth.livejournal.com]

You can get your address changed without going to the RMV - you can do that on the web, and get change of address stickers in the mail.

The guest parking cards are supposed to be 2 per household. I don't think they check very carefully before issuing them, though.

Bank statements are acceptable as well as utility bills, according to the web site. I believe when I first moved to Somerville I was able to use my lease as proof of residence, but that was long enough ago that the standards may have changed.

When I moved, I was able to get a grace period before getting my permits by calling the Department of Traffic and Parking. I still got tickets, but when I picked up my permit they verified that the tickets were issued during the grace period and cancelled them. I did this over the phone, so it was a lot more convenient than trying to get my permit before moving - especially if you do need a bank statement or similar to prove your residence. I don't know if they're still doing that or not.

You didn't mention this in your post, but you get permits at the Department of Traffic and Parking, which has a stand-alone office on Holland Street roughly halfway between Davis Square and Teele Square. I don't know if the actual Town Hall can even issue the permits.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

They are actually really strict about the guest passes. When I got my sticker, it turned out that the people who lived in my apartment (moved to another floor in the same building) had not updated their address. The lady was very nice about it, and after a lot of wheedling agreed to give us the permits for another apartment in the building, but it took a supervisor's approval, and my solemn vow to correct it when they sent out renewals. They have a big database or something that they're using to verify this stuff.

Ah, Somerville parking...

[karaokefiles.livejournal.com]

I can confirm that the lease does NOT work.

Another thing they don't tell you on the Parking Office website is that you need to have changed your address with your insurance company, which they will verify online while you are there at the office on Holland Street picking up the permit. I called in to ask if I could come get my permit with a utility bill, despite not having the letter and change of address sticker from the RMV yet, and they said yes, as long as I had changed my address with my car insurance carrier. That is not mentioned anywhere on the web site that I can see; I just happened to be lucky enough to get this info over the phone!!

There is a 30 day grace period, but you have to buy a $10 hang-tag at Holland Street to hang from your rear-view mirror during the grace period. Annoying, but better than getting tickets.

Re: Ah, Somerville parking...

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Very helpful post, thanks!

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

One person can go into the parking office with all of the updated registrations and with the utility bill and get all of the car stickers and the two household permits.

You can get additional parking permits for a party by going to the parking office.

A warning: Somerville tickets for parking in the wrong direction. Cars have to be pointed the same way as traffic.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

And don't forget that they only take cash (possibly checks, too?). Definitely not credit cards.

[gothic-ham.livejournal.com]

They take checks & cash at the Somerville Parking Office.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

How many extra can you get for a party?

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I've never done it but when I've been to parties who did there seemed to be "a lot".

Welcome to Davis

[angelpiglet.livejournal.com]

If you call the office prior to your party and give them an estimate of how many cars will be parking in the area the parking office will take note. If you get any tickets, you can call up the office and they usually void them.

I've called before and gottten my friend's tickets waived due to the same reason.

Re: Welcome to Davis

[fraterrisus]

Somerville explicity DOES NOT do this anymore. You have to apply in advance and get temporary passes for your guests instead. They seem to be okay with giving out lots of passes - I think we asked for 20 and they didn't have a problem with it.

The "notify them in advance and then submit any tickets you get" stopped working sometime in the last six months or so, I think.

Re: Welcome to Davis

[angelpiglet.livejournal.com]

Good to know.
I guess I wasn't up to date b/c I now live on a non-permit required street since Oct., so when I have people over, its no big deal.
But thanks for the notice =)

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

FYI, a driver's license with a Somerville address doesn't work as proof of residency, either. I found that out the hard way once and had to race home to grab a utility bill and back to the traffic & parking office in the half hour before they closed, back in the days before they were open late on Thursdays.

[technoluddite.livejournal.com]

My lease didn't count, either.

And cellphone bills do not count as utility bills. Land line phone bills do count. A growing number of Americans (9.6% of adults, and it's probably much higher in the Davis Square area) only have cell phones. Ergh. Government bureaucrats need to get with the times.

Cell vs. landline

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I think you're missing the point. The point isn't to prove that you get mail at that address. The point is to prove that you live there.

Having a cellphone mailed to this address proves nothing about the apartment.

Having my name on the landline phone service to this address means that the phone company thinks the apartment exists, and I'm willing to pay for phone service to it. So if that's not where I live I'm at least going out of my way.

For similar reasons I believe cable bills DO count, but I would call and ask before relying on that.

The utility bills go to someone, right? Just coordinate with your roommates and have one of you go in with all of the car registrations. They don't have to have the same name on them as.

Re: Cell vs. landline

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

They now take cell phone bills.

[technoluddite.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update. Good to know.

They accepted a printout of an electric bill with my roommate's name on it.

The proof of residency that they did accept is less meaningful than the ability to receive mail. All it proved was that I was vaguely motivated. (i.e. I could have just stolen somebody else's utility bill, or doctored up a screenshot from nstar.com). Updating the mailing address on a cellphone bill takes more effort than potentially stealing somebody else's mail.

I'm glad they updated their policy.

Re: Cell vs. landline

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

Cable bills do count now.