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Some residents want me to vote their wishes Monday night and approve the mayor’s paid parking proposal.
Some residents want me to vote their wishes Monday night and not approve any paid parking proposal.
Some residents want the issue of paid parking to be a ballot question in November.
What a pickle.
I shot this photo in January 2009 at the state’s park and ride lot. You can see my Subaru snowed-in.
The essence of the paid parking plan, elaborated here by Councilor Cronin, involves:
1. The Newburyport Redevelopment Authority owns two parking lots, and an agreement signed by the NRA and the Mayor reserves 130 spaces (100 in the east lot and 30 in the west lot) for all-day permit parking. The remainder of their 240 spaces would require meter payment at $0.50/hour, for a maximum of three hours. The City would purchase and maintain the ‘pay and display’ machines. The NRA would receive fee revenue, and the City would receive fine revenue through enforcement. The City would continue to snow plow the lots.
2. An agreement signed by the Waterfront Trust and the Mayor, at a cost of $30,000, provides all infrastructure and all proceeds to the City, which also plows their lot. Parking will also be $0.50/hour, for a maximum of three hours.
3. The remaining downtown municipal parking lots (State Street, adjacent to the library; Tracey Place, adjacent to Jewel in the Crown; and the combined Green Street/Unicorn Street central business district lot) will be charged at $0.50/hour, for a maximum of three hours. The only exception is Tracey Place would be an all-day lot.
4. Annual passes can be purchased under a tiered program: seniors over age 65 can buy passes at $25, non-seniors can buy at $50, and non-resident employees can buy at $100. Residents must provide proof of vehicle registration for the pass/permit to be a sticker affixed to the vehicle. Employees need to show proof of employment.
5. A separate resident parking sticker program currently in-place between Garden Street and Liberty Street, parallel between State and Fair Streets, will be extended to include all residential streets between High, Water, Winter, and Federal Streets. Any resident in this rectangle must show proof of residency to receive a free sticker to park on the street. This sticker program is completely different from the permit program.
6. Time restrictions in the lots supersede parking permits, i.e. Green Street has a 3-hour maximum parking time regardless if the vehicle has a pass.
7. Employees will have all day parking at Tracey Place and the NRA East lot (contingent on availability). If the combined 175 all-day spaces are full, an employee must park beyond the stickered rectangle.
8. All lot and street parking hours today are restricted to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday to Saturday, and 12 noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. These hours would remain enforced.
9. Street parking is free with posted time restrictions.
10. Snow emergency parking bans would supersede all of the above, as any resident can park in a municipal lot without permit, pass, or fee.
That said, the Public Safety Committee meeting last night (which I did not attend) introduced the concept of 1) extending the 6 p.m. cut-off time to 8 p.m.; and reducing all resident passes to $5 a year, if not free. A revised financial forecast is in the works.
Perusing our residents’ blogs on the issue, more comes to light.
Tom Salemi opines:
I know many feel they already pay for parking through taxes, but there’s no precedent for such thinking. Permits cost money. Licenses cost money. Schools now come with school fees. Our taxes do pay for the bulk of services, but they don’t and can’t cover everything.
But the best part of the paid parking plan is it will draw some revenue from our visitors, who will still come. In my travels people ask me where I live and when I tell them the reply usually is, “Oh, I love Newburyport.” In expressing the rational behind their love no one – not a person – mentions free parking. Visitors probably are shocked that parking is free when they visit.
Gillian Swart adds:
I’ve been in downtown Gloucester a few times now, and I don’t find coughing up a couple of quarters to park to be too much for me to handle.
I think that this (Newburyport) City Council needs to be a bit more decisive and stop the endless meetings, information sessions and whatnot on every issue. There are plenty of opportunities for people to voice their opinions during the regular process for implementing plans and passing laws.
And you do NOT get to park for free in Gloucester, with a resident permit, except at the beach.
But.
Everyone, including Daily News reporter Lynne Hendricks who summarizes the plan in this and that article, misses the point. If the enigmatic P. Preservationist (and, yes, I know who this mysterious blogger really is) is to be believed, saying no to the mayor’s paid parking plan is saying goodbye to the future.
Whatever decision is made on Monday’s evening will have a ripple affect for years to come.
If the City Council turns down the City Parking Plan, then everything fragments into zero. At first, it may seem status quo but what will happen is a demoralization of purpose. We’ll still see free parking except the charges leveled at the Waterfront Trust area and the periodic charges by the NRA. The dirt parking lots will remain…dirt. The infrastructure of the downtown will continue…to deteriorate.
What will happen is, any plans to make a Waterfront Park will be nixed because the City needs the free parking spaces. The NRA will abandon the Park as it pursues buildings to ‘raise’ revenue and the citizens will continue to fight such a buildup ensuring a stalemate and a perpetual parking lot. The MVRTA who would have largely financed the parking garage would abandon the effort since without paid parking around the city, no one would use the building. Fragmentation of design would cause the City, the NRA and the Waterfront Trust to go their separate ways fighting amongst themselves as usual.
No park, no garage, no infrastructure improvements.
If the City Council approves the City Parking Plan, then the long range plans of the City will begin to take shape. Ever slowly and with much fighting as the Mayor and City Hall tries to divert more of the revenue into the general fund but there will be progress. ‘Some’ parking money will go to infrastructure and the pressure to rely on the Waterfront for parking will be relieved. The one roadblock to the MVRTA’s plans will be removed and future plans for the beautifully integrated (one can hope) parking garage will proceed with little pressure on the taxpayers. Since residents will be parking in essence for free downtown, there will be a tremendous push to encourage more visitors rather than the present mood we have had. Consequently, more money will be generated by our downtown businesses. The Waterfront Trust and the NRA will increase their revenues since they will be charging all year round further advancing the future and now secure Waterfront Park.
The vote on Monday will have great consequence for the City. Status Quo, or Future Progress?
The City Council meets Monday at 7:30. The agenda is here. You will be granted the opportunity to speak during the public comment period, if you choose.
There are many aspects of the plan I don’t like, and there are many aspects I do. I’m officially on the fence how I will vote, but I have a sense how I might. I need some questions answered, and I’m waiting to hear back from the parking consultant and the planning director on some of them.
Maybe I’ll see you Monday night. Or, maybe you’ll see me via the live feed on Comcast Channel 10.
Either way, Monday’s vote on paid parking will only be the first vote. Council rules require two readings for every ordinance change. We meet again January 31 for the second reading and the second vote.
What a pickle.
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