Parking permits are coming
Published on January 2nd, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - Town officials expect to institute a comprehensive parking program next spring in the Stoneham Square area that includes a $300 fee for businesses to lease spaces in municipal lots.
According to a draft copy of the regulations, proposed to become effective on April 1, local merchants and their employees will be able to purchase a parking permit from Town Clerk John Hanright's office that grants the right to use designated spaces in surrounding municipal lots.
Once the program becomes effective, police will begin ticketing cars illegally parked in municipal lots with designated permit parking from Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
That police activity will be in conjunction with continued enforcement of a blanket two-hour parking restriction along Main Street.
The permits, which will cost $300 per year or $100 quarterly, will be offered to local residents, business owners and their workers, and those employed by the Town of Stoneham.
A discounted $150 permit per year, or $50 quarterly, will also be offered for those seeking to use a spot at the Recreation Park municipal lot.
According to Town Administrator David Ragucci, who helped craft the policy after meeting regularly with Stoneham Square merchants, he will attend an informational gathering on the parking regulations on Jan. 22 at Stoneham Savings Bank.
The meeting, scheduled for 8 a.m. on the second floor of the local bank, is open to the public, but merchants and interested parties are being asked to pre-register for the gathering by Jan. 15.
"After that, we'd like to hold a public hearing to get input from our residents and hear what they feel are the ups and downs," the Town Administrator explained, during a recent Selectmen meeting.
The new Stoneham Square regulations were pitched after various town officials argued that a severe parking shortage existed in the area, in large part due to commuters who abused un-enforced restrictions by parking their vehicles in municipal lots and on public streets all day.
Months ago, incoming Stoneham Police Chief Richard Bongiorno announced his intentions to enforce a blanket two-hour parking restriction in the Stoneham Square area.
However, before actual ticketing began, the chief tagged parking scofflaws' vehicles with warnings, in order to spread the word that the town intended to get serious about enforcement activity. For years, the town had ignored the restrictions, with ticketing for parking violations all but non-existent in Stoneham.
Stoneham officials also needed to receive permission from MassHighway to erect new two-hour limit signs around Main Street, so that ticketing could revolve around those regulations, rather than an morning and evening commuter hour parking ban.
"We've been maintaining our enforcement actions, not only for parking, but for moving violations as well," Bongiorno said during a recent phone interview. "We haven't been getting too many complaints at this point. In fact, we've gotten very few."
"We're not chalking tires, particularly in this type of weather, but if we get complaints, officers will take a license plate down and monitor the situation," the police chief explained. "Generally, businesses have enforced [the restrictions] on their own. And the officers also know the cars at this point."
Based upon the parking proposal, no vehicles in excess of one ton, that exceed 20-feet in length, or carry livery plates, will be allowed to participate in the permit program. Busses and tractor-trailers will also be prohibited from obtaining a space in municipal lots.
In order to obtain a parking decal, which will be transferable to one additional vehicle that's registered in the permit holder's name, an applicant must have taken care of all existing parking tickets, paid their excise taxes, and have a car that's both registered and insured.
Those found to abuse the privilege, or two have racked up more than three violations, will lose the commercial parking decal rights and face fines of up to $100 for each misuse of the permit.
Cars without a decal that park in designated permit spots will be ticketed with a $25 fine.
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