Parking Plan Sparks Questions

Downtown residents and business owners have been frustrated for years with the lack of on-street parking in the downtown commercial district, and furious with commuters who stash their vehicles in the morning on one of the many North Main area streets or in business parking lots, and then run for the train.

Despite an active ticketing and towing program, the problems continue. Wednesday, a subcommittee of residents and business owners that has been meeting for months submitted a list of recommendations that include issuing new mirror-hanger placards to residents and strictly enforcing a parking plan.

The parking plan awaits acceptance by selectmen before it can be put into action, but if Wednesday's airing is any indication, the community and the board will need plenty of time to understand it. Board members who had not seen the recommendations before had a volley of questions for Town Manager Bill Ross and Kevin Moran, a selectman who is on the committee.

Some thought the $50 fee for the residential and employee parking placards was not high enough, and others disliked the wide reach of the designated residential district and wanted it narrowed to forestall problems with residents who can walk to the train, but might use their placard just to get their vehicle closer to the station.

Several thought it was likely placard holders would lend their stickers out to others, and also envisioned mayhem if too many residential stickers were issued.

"The last thing we want to do is complicate the parking problems by creating less parking," commented selectman Olivier Kozlowski. "We're trying to make things more welcoming, not less."

Moran and Ross said they had heard it all before in the public sessions the committee had already held.

"The biggest complaint we have is that we have employees parking in front of businesses - we're trying to control where they are, and push employees off the main street," said Moran. "We've had every one of these conversations at least four times." He added he recalled spending 1 1/2 hours "discussing the fate of six parking spots."

Under the plan as proposed, each living unit in the downtown will be issued no more than two placards, and individual businesses will get a maximum of teneach, for the owner and nine employees. In addition, North Main will be limited to two-hour parking to allow people to shop in the downtown without having to struggle so much to park. At least one business has left North Main Street for another site with more parking, selectmen maintain.

A strategic plan study for the town and the schools now underway under the guidance of Dr. John Mullin from the University of Massachusetts is strongly emphasizing the need for intensive planning with financial investment for the future viability of the downtown, so board members have been made newly aware that the life of the downtown may depend on immediate intervention.

Ross assured the board there will be little chance that a resident or a commuter will get away with lending out their stickers to others. "The placard must match the license or the sticker will be revoked," he said. He added a control log will be available that will show each vehicle with the name and address of the owner, and give the vehicle plate number. He agreed with Aptowitz that scofflaws should face meaningful repercussions.

"There needs to be a heavy fine structure so if people are bad boys and girls, they're going to have to pay," said Aptowitz.

Ross also said all the proceeds from the issuing of the placards will be added to an existing enterprise fund that collects parking fees and fines, and uses proceeds for the costs of the program. The cash flow relating to parking will never enter the general fund, he said.

Selectmen will have a chance to concentrate on the details of the plan for the next several weeks before making any decisions, and decided Wednesday to hold a public workshop as part of one of their meetings, so that the residents, employees in the downtown, and business owners can air comments in person.