Somerville Parking Advocacy and Reform Coalition (SPARC)

New Director of Traffic & Parking

2010-08-02T12:11:00.005-04:00

On July 1, 2010, former aide to Mayor Curtatone, Matt Dias, became Somerville's Director of Traffic & Parking. Matt had staffed the Mayor's Parking Solutions Task Force and is very familiar with the history of the recent parking regulation changes. If there are any concerns you still have about the impact that the parking regulation changes have had on you, please let Matt know. He is reasonable and nice to work with. The more he hears from people about concerns, the more likely it is that he will consider making changes. Matt can be reached at MDias@somervillema.gov or 617-625-6600.

SPARC Meeting Tuesday May 4th, 7pm- Join Us!

2010-04-29T14:45:00.003-04:00

Still concerned with the impact that Somerville’s parking regulation changes have on quality of life and the business community?

SPARC will be holding a meeting to discuss how to move forward:

Tuesday May 4, 2010, 7pm

Johnny D’s in Davis Square.

Everyone is welcome. Please email somervilleparc@gmail.com if you can make it, or just join us that night.

City Makes Improvements to Parking Regulations, Concerns Still Remain

2010-04-29T14:19:00.004-04:00

April 20, 2010

On January 4, 2010 the City implemented citywide resident permit parking. Prior to implementation, the Mayor’s Parking Solutions Task Force submitted a list of recommendations to the Mayor on ways to lessen the impact of the parking changes. On April 20^,2010 the City posted a press release to report on the progress that the Traffic and Parking Department has made to implement these recommendations. The progress report can be found here:www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/FY10%20PSTF%20Recommendations%20Letter%20From%20Bradley.pdf

There are several wins that we feel were made that lessen the impact of the parking regulation changes including the designation of 20 main thoroughfare streets, the creation of an artist permit, more flexibility in landlord permits, and more flexibility in the time frame of business parking permits.

However, there are still outstanding concerns that have significant impact on businesses and quality of life including:

The impact on businesses on two-hour parking restriction on the main thoroughfares,
The inability for caseworkers to legally park in front of their clients home,
The inability for Somerville residents to get parking permits for their primary vehicle if it is a commercial vehicle with markings on it,
The 2 day per week guest pass restrictions are even more problematic now that there are no streets guests can park for more than 2 hours or overnight. This has particular impact on people visiting sick or elderly family in the city and on the other all quality of life for many residents, and
Residents who would like spontaneous, small gatherings are limited to two cars at a time. The City is working on making a small gathering pass that can be downloaded online, but this has not yet happened.

See the links on the right for more details on SPARCs remaining concerns, and for links to recent press, including some Alderman expressing concern on the impact that parking changes are having on businesses.

Permit parking changes are coming- January 4th is the date

2009-11-20T13:09:00.002-05:00

The City has officially set Monday January 4^th as the enforcement date for citywide resident permit parking. Signs are being put up over the next few weeks and the City will make a couple of citywide CTY call announcing the changes. One call already went out. Parking Control Officers will flyer cars and then give out warnings, before beginning to ticket on January 4^th. We are pleased that the City agreed to engage in this level of notification before issuing tickets and to postpone the implementation date from the initial August 1st date.

Over the summer the Traffic Commission vote to designate 21 streets as Major Thoroughfares that will be 2HR parking from 8am-2:30am and resident only from 2:30am-8am. The City has said they won’t be enforcing the 2HR parking at night. I’ve pushed them to have the signs reflect that but that is not likely to happen. A list of those streets can be found: http://www.somervillema.gov/NewsDetail.cfm?instance_id=1502

SPARCs Push for Tweaks to Permit Parking- Wins to Report

2009-11-20T13:05:00.001-05:00

The City, particularly Tom Champion, the City Spokesperson, has spent many hours with me and Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz to create a list of modifications for the Mayor’s Parking Solutions Task Force to vote on. I cannot thank him enough for all of the time he’s put into getting our concerns heard. I've attached the list of those items here. Unfortunately, the Task Force was only amendable to a few of these modifications. However, there are some likely wins to celebrate and some more discussion to come on a few points.

Some of the things that we are proud to say will likely be put into place, with the Mayor’s approval are:

Creation of small gathering visitors passes (likely for up to 4 people) for $1 that can be downloaded online- it may take some time to upgrade the website to allow this, but the City is open to the idea
Creation of artist parking permits- the specifics are still being worked out, but the City is committed to ensuring artists renting studio space will be able to park near their space.
Flexibility of the hours of Business Permits- The permits are generally available from 8:30am-6:30pm or 6:30pm-3:30am. The application now says that the hours can be flexible. Talk to Traffic and Parking Director Jim Kotzuba if your business requires more than a 10 hour window for a Business Permit.
Additional Landlord Pass Available to Absentee Landlords- this would allow a landlord to have a pass to provide to prospective renters, or to a contractor working on their property.
Centralized Correspondence to Traffic and Parking issues and Improved procedures and staffing for Business Permit Program
Process for Adding Streets as a Main Thoroughfare- Traffic and Parking will devise a protocol for how people can petition to get a street, or portion of a street, added as a main thoroughfare.

Please continue to let SPARC know if there are concerns you have that we have not yet tried to have addressed, or that you are not getting successfully resolved by the City. Also, if you’re still unhappy about these changes, let it be known! Call the Mayor’s office, contact your Alderman and the Alderman-at-Large. Tell your friends! Contact information can be find here: http://sparcfaqs.blogspot.com/2009/07/make-your-voice-heard-and-sign-petition.html

SPARC on Boston.com

2009-10-02T13:10:00.003-04:00

Check out the article up on boston.com about the recent Somerville parking reg controversies.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2009/10/by_danielle_dreilinger_globe_c_4.html

Mayor's Parking Solutions Task Force Update

2009-10-02T13:04:00.004-04:00

As of October 2nd, Courtney from SPARC has been a part of two Parking Solutions Task Force (PSTF) meetings, as well as a communications subcommittee meeting. The subcommittee put together a list of recommendations to bring to the PSTF for vote that if passed, would address SPARC’s concerns about the impacts of making all streets resident only parking. To see an updated list of our concerns and proposed solutions, go to http://sparcfaqs.blogspot.com/2009/07/update-sparc-concerns.html SPARC is pushing to have all of these items addressed before implementation of citywide resident only parking.

Citywide Resident Only Parking Implementation- Targeted for November 2009

2009-10-02T13:02:00.002-04:00

The City is in the process of hiring a company to put up new parking signs to reflect the changes. They expect that the signs will go up sometime in November. Tom Champion, the Somerville Director of Communications, has outlined the following process for implementing resident only parking citywide:

“Once the City has selected a low and qualified bidder [to install the new signs], and negotiated a schedule, we will set a citywide implementation date, which we will announce immediately by press release, posting to our website, on our City cable stations and via citywide Connect CTY call. Once the signs are up, we will distribute multi-lingual flyers to every household and business on the affected streets, and send out another citywide Connect CTY call. Beginning on the date of implementation, and for the next two weeks thereafter, Parking Control Officers will issue warnings rather than actual tickets”

Traffic Commission Designates 20 Major Streets for Separate Parking Restrictions

2009-09-08T13:57:00.008-04:00

On August 20th the Traffic Commission voted to allow 20 major City streets, as well as streets that currently have time limits, to have special parking restrictions. These streets will have 2HR parking from 8am-2:30am and resident permit parking from 2:30am-8am. A list of the streets can be found at http://www.somervillema.gov/NewsDetail.cfm?instance_id=1502

SPARC feels this is an improvement from the May 21st parking regulation changes, but still has concerns. Businesses with early morning hours, such as restaurants that serve breakfast, and fitness centers will still be impacted by not having places for non-Somerville residents to park before 8am. Evening businesses such as bars and restaurants will also be impacted as their patrons will need to leave or move their cars after 2HRs. There are also additional streets that we feel should be on the list, including Beacon Street and Temple Street, as well as streets with community parks on them, such as Vinal Ave.

SPARC will bring these concerns to the Parking Solutions Task Force for discussion.

SPARC now a member of the Mayor's Parking Solutions Task Force

2009-09-08T13:40:00.004-04:00

SPARC is pleased to announce that it as accepted the Mayor's offer to become a member of the Mayor's Parking Solutions Task Force. We look forward to working collaboratively with the City to address remaining outstanding concerns with the changes to Somerville Parking Regulation. The City has announced the appointment on their website:

http://www.somervillema.gov/NewsDetail.cfm?instance_id=1502

We are also pleased that the City has mailed out a flyer to residents and businesses publicizing the new changes in parking regulation.

If you have concerns that you don't see reflected on our website, please contact us, or fill out the survey Somerville Parking Issue Survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=TpnWRv3QVDY_2bOD2n3c9FTw_3d_3d

SPARC, the Parking Solutions Task Force, and Parking Issues Survey

2009-08-20T10:44:00.003-04:00

Just prior to the Traffic Board hearing Courtney Koslow, Joe Grafton from Somerville Local First and Matt Carrano from Somerville Open Studios met with Mayor Curtatone and City Spokesman Tom Champion to discuss our concerns. The Mayor offered to have a member from SPARC on the Parking Solutions Task Force. We are waiting for some clarification from the City which we expect in the next couple of days before making our final determination. We hope that having a seat at the table will help in ensure that the concerns we've identified are addressed.

Somerville Local First and SPARC would like to collect and funnel ANY parking issues you have to the Parking Solutions Task Force. We plan on documenting this effort and making it as easy as possible for you to raise your concerns and seek positive resolution.

Somerville Local First has set up a simple online survey form for you to provide your feedback or raise issues. Please use this link to do so: http://tr.im/parkingSolutions . Filling out the form should take less than 3 minutes.

Traffic Board hearing, Traffic Commission Meeting THURSDAY AUGUST 20, 6PM

2009-08-20T10:19:00.005-04:00

Thanks to those of you who came out to the Traffic Board hearing on August 13th. The Traffic Board voted to uphold the Traffic Commission May 21st vote, saying they had confidence the Parking Solutions Task Force would address the outstanding concerns. For more details on the meeting, see the Press section of the SPARC website.

The Traffic Commission meetings Thursday August 20th at 6pm at the Traffic and Parking Office, 133 Holland Street to vote on a new list of main thorougfares. It is our understanding that these will be 2HR parking except from 2:30am-8am when they will be resident only parking- though we're waiting for clarification on that from the City. These regulations are effective Monday-Saturday. We appreciate that streets were added to the list, but feel that it will only be truly useful if 2HR parking was limited to streets that currently have 2HR parking. Artists, for example, would be impacted if they could only parking on the street near their studio for 2HRs.

The list of streets designated as main thorougfares can be found on Traffic Commission's agenda for the August 20th meeting: http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/agenda/agen8-09.pdf and on the City's revised FAQ: http://www.somervillema.gov/cos_content/documents/TandPFAQs0812a.pdf

Petition Approved! Traffic Board Public Hearing Thursday August 13 6pm, City Hall

2009-08-08T15:52:00.004-04:00

On Friday July 31, 2009 SPARC submitted a petition contesting the decision of the Traffic Commission at the May 21, 2009 meeting to: raise parking meter rates, increase hours of operation for parking meters and make Resident Permit Parking city wide.

The Elections Department and the Legal Department have completed their reviews of these petitions and deemd that they were valid. As a result, a meeting of the Traffic Board will be convened to review the petitions and accept public testimony. This will be a public hearing.

The meeting will be held on Thursday August 13, 2009 at 6:00PM in the Aldermanic Chamber at City Hall.

Appeal Petition Submitted!

2009-08-01T08:35:00.007-04:00

SPARC has submitted a petition in appeal of the May 21st Traffic Commission votes to Jim Kotzuba, Director of Traffic and Parking. There were between 250-300 signatures on the hard copy of the petition. Not all signatures were from residents but we only need 50 and we definitely have that.

There are two timelines for filing- before implementation, or 30 days afterwards. Assuming our petition is deemed valid by the Election Commission, by filing the petition on July 31st, the August 1st effective date of citywide resident only parking should be postponed by two weeks. Within two weeks there will be a Traffic Board hearing where they will take public comment. It is unclear whether the City intended to implement citywide resident permit parking on August 1st or October 2st.

Metered parking changes went into effect in June (even though it was implemented in July) so that issue falls in the second time frame for petition filing. We believe we are within the appropriate window for a Traffic Board hearing to be held on that issue as well, but the implementation will remain in effect.

The Traffic Board consists of 3 people, two of whom are appointed by the Mayor and a third who is appointed by the first two. It has only met 2 or 3 times since it's inception in the late 1980's.

We will keep you posted as we learn more about the fate of the petition.

July 31, 2009

Traffic Commission Meeting Report Back

2009-07-15T09:04:00.018-04:00

The Traffic Commission met on Thursday July 30th to vote on the following modifications to their May 21st vote to implement citywide resident only parking and to change the duration and price of meters. The votes were to:

Create a special 2:30-10 a.m. Resident Permit-Only Zones on 8 Major Streets (Broadway, Medford, Highland, Holland, Elm, Somerville Ave, Beacon and Washington)
Extend Current Business Permits to 6 p.m.
Create New Second Shift Business Parking 6 p.m.-to-3:30 a.m.

Many of the 80-90 people in the room expressed their frustration with shortcomings in the plan to make 8 major streets resident only from 2:30am-10am, with the process under which these changes were made and with they way in which they are being implemented. The commission voted to table the item and ask the Mayor's Parking Solutions Task Force to revise the plan. Depending on the fate of the Traffic Board meeting on August 13th, the Traffic Commission may take the item up again at their next meeting on Thursday August 20th, 6pm, Traffic and Parking Department, 133 Holland Street.

The two business permit related items passed.

A great account of the meeting can be found at:
http://www.somervillevoices.org/2009/07/30/politics/permit-only-parking-under-fire-at-traffic-commission-meeting/

New Meter Rates and Times, and Parking Fines in Effect July 20th

2009-07-15T08:00:00.002-04:00

As of July 20th, the City has begun to implement the following changes in meter parking:

All meters to go from $0.50 per hour to $1 per hour
Meters will go from a 6pm end time to an 8pm end time
Magoun Square Lot and the Meacham Road and Dover Street meters to join Davis Square ltos in providing 3-hour parking limit
New fees and fines approved by the Alderman and Traffic Commission go into effect

http://www.somervillema.gov/NewsDetail.cfm?instance_id=1485

Mayors Parking Solutions Task Force Releases Report

2009-07-14T22:25:00.012-04:00

The Mayor has responded to public feedback on parking changes by forming the Parking Solutions Task Force. The task force released their report on July 10, 2009. http://www.somervillema.gov/cos_content/documents/ParkingSolutionsTaskForceReport.pdf

City of Somerville Makes major Changes to Parking Regulations

2009-07-14T12:36:00.009-04:00

Significant Impact on Businesses and Residents!

All Public Streets Become Resident Only Parking
Meters Increased and Hours Extended to 8pm and 10pm

On May 21, 2009, with minimal public input, the Somerville Traffic Commission voted to approve the following changes to City parking regulations. These changes are slated to be instated July and August 2009. http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/agenda/agen5-09a.pdf

· Rescinded Article V Section 5-7 “Residential Permit Parking Program Approval Procedures” and implement Residential Permit Parking on all public streets in the City of Somerville Monday through Saturday, 24 hours, effective 8-1-09.

All streets not currently designated will revert to Residential Permit Parking Only.
All existing 2 Hour Parking except by permit 8am to 6pm spaces will remain. These spaces will be designated Residential Permit Parking Only from 6pm until 8am.
All existing 2 Hour Parking Only spaces will be changed to 2 Hour Parking 8am to 6pm and Residential Permit Parking Only from 6pm until 8am
All other existing restrictions will remain in effect

·Change to Parking Meter Rates from $.50 per hour to $1.00 per hour.

·Extend hours of operation at all Parking Meters (except in Davis Sq and Magoun Sq) to 8pm

·Extend hours of operation at all Parking Meters in Davis Sq and Magoun Sq to 10pm

·Create a new Parking Meter Zone in the Davis Square and Magoun Sq Municipal Parking Lots in the spaces designated for Business Permit Parking Only Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm. The hours of operation for the Parking Meters in this zone will be Monday through Friday 5pm to 10pm and Saturday 8am to 10pm

·Create a new Parking Meter Zone in Davis Square at all Loading Zones. The hours of operation for the Parking Meters in this zone will be Monday through Friday 5pm to 10pm and Saturday 8am to 10pm.
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