I strongly support repealing the overnight on-street parking ban in Newton during the winter.
My spouse and I used to live on the first floor of a two-family home in West Newton, and my niece and her husband lived upstairs. We all worked, and it was difficult for us to fit four cars in our tiny one-lane driveway, and to juggle them around when one of us had to leave. When we had family visit, there was no place for them to park overnight during the winter months.
West Newton is a more affordable area of Newton for people with lesser incomes to live in. The multi-family homes are closely situated next to one another, and there is less space for parking while there are more residents needing to share those limited spaces.
It is unfair to burden residents who pay to live in this area to force them to look for parking elsewhere overnight for months of the year. It’s unreasonable and accomplishes nothing. The overnight parking ban will continue to stay in effect during snow emergencies, which is manageable because it isn’t often.
We successfully piloted the end to the overnight ban in 2020-2021. There is no need to keep it in place. If there are some areas near the colleges in Newton that present specific challenges with students leaving their cars parked on the street for extended periods of time, then those specific streets can be isolated and addressed to protect those neighborhoods.
I now live in a single-family home in Waban, and I am fortunate enough to not have issues with parking overnight. But I don’t forget the real burden it presents to other people in our community and I stand with them.
Sincerely,
Lynn Colangione
Waban
