Newton’s Winter Overnight Parking Ban is scheduled to start on December 1, banning parking for longer than one hour on city streets 2AM-6AM. The fine for each violation is $25. In recent years, during the state’s Covid emergency, the Mayor was able to lift the ban and did so (except during declared snow emergencies), but that option to lift the ban is no longer available. Residents may apply for free Municipal Parking Lot Permit stickers (issued on a first come, first served basis) allowing parking in City parking lots during all hours that parking meters are not in operation. During snow emergencies, however, those lots are not available, and violators may be charged a $20 fine and have their vehicles towed.
The City Council will be exploring how the ban might be modified or removed, or what else can be done to help residents who do not have a place to park except on streets. Councilors Albright and Kelley will soon be publishing a report on the more than 500 email responses they received on this topic last year.
We searched a bit around Newton to ask about views on the Winter Overnight Parking Ban, and we heard a range of views:
- [Name Withheld]: “I lean toward keeping the ban in winter. My neighbors always park two of their cars in front of my house, so I’m not able to park in front of my own home. If the ban is lifted, the parked cars will impede the flow of traffic down our narrow residential street and impact plows being able to plow an adequate width for cars to travel. It will be more difficult for me and my neighbors across the street to pull out of our driveways. Not everyone in Newton lives on wide streets. While the ban can be inconvenient for some, they knew about the parking situation before they moved here. Perhaps the ban should be shortened, say mid-December to March 1 with a reprieve from Christmas week to New Years, and cars should be removed during snow emergencies. I’m also concerned that removing this ban is being promoted while parking is being limited in new development projects. Let’s not turn Newton into Boston during the winter months!”
- [Peter J. Howe]: “I strongly support the overnight parking ban as a tactic to facilitate optimal plowing of our streets in Newton, and I strongly support the city working with people for whom the ban is an actual hardship to find them safe and convenient off- or on-street parking locations that don’t detract from our shared goal of well-plowed Newton streets and sidewalks after snowstorms. I hope the Fuller Administration will continue to emphasize not just plowing but actual snow removal by payloader and dump truck in key locations, particularly corners with significant pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk or poor sight lines for motorists and pedestrians alike when plows leave high snowbanks.”
- [Jonathan Beit-Aharon]: “[The ban] makes no sense when there is no snow in the forecast, not even at a 30% chance. It does make it harder for those of us who have no parking spaces for guests… particularly around winter holidays. Personally, we have been fortunate in that friendly neighbors have allowed our guests to park in their driveways, but when there is no snow in the forecast we feel simply encumbered [by the ban].”
- [Schuyler Larrabee]: “Given the success during the last few winters of relying on the reverse-calling to spread important city news, such as alerting residents to the need to get their cars off the streets on account of snow, altering the rules to take advantage of modern technology shouldn’t be a difficult thing to accomplish.”
- [Stephen Farrell]: “With current rules, where can cars go when they leave City lots during a storm? Do they just drive around until the lot is plowed? The City now wants to remove even the pretense of asking commercial builders/homeowners to create parking at new homes/businesses. Is the City thinking of building 2-3 story garages in areas such as behind Walgreens on Lyman Street in Newton Center? (Not at the Beacon Street parking lot, which should be totally green space.)
- [Laura Horst]: “If we could lift the ban during COVID, we can lift it for good. With advance notice of storms, residents can move their cars as needed to off-street locations. I am confident if the Mayor and City Councilors come together, they can reverse the need for the ban for good. Newton can think progressively and creatively to make life a little easier for all residents!”
- [Sallee Lipshutz]: “Lifting the ban during Covid (except for snow emergencies) proves that doing so is workable. I also hope that the City Council realizes the need for parking that increased residential density will bring. To think otherwise is dreaming, not planning. Automobiles will be here until some new technological jump allows the creation of greener personal/family transportation and even those new vehicles will need to have parking spaces. Bicycles alone are not America’s panacea.”
- [Jeremy Freudberg]: “The winter parking ban should be repealed. Most streets in our city have what can be described as “leftover” space, unneeded for the safe passage of traffic. This leftover space exists all year round minus the infrequent moments for plowing and sweeping. Parking does seem to be a particularly noble use for this space, given that for many the personal automobile is necessary for productivity and happiness. To have a winter parking ban is to ignore these realities. Why should we make our neighbors walk in bitter cold from a distant municipal parking lot? Why should we deny our neighbors the use of an accessible parking space in front of their home? Why should we cause our neighbors to waste their precious and finite time endlessly shuffling their cars around? Why do we accept that the winter parking ban excludes many from Newton, and forces many out? We can do better!”
- [Name Withheld]: “The overnight parking ban discourages people from moving into Newton, unless they are so wealthy that they can afford to have a place with offstreet parking for all their vehicles. Obviously, this makes our city less diverse and contributes to its reputation as a rich white enclave. I believe the overnight parking ban could be lifted without compromising the safety of our city streets during the winter months, especially since cars would still need to be moved in a snow emergency. If the streets in some neighborhoods are really too narrow for emergency vehicles to pass safely, a better solution would be to restrict parking to one side of the street only.”
- [John Dundon]: “I am in favor of overnight parking year round. The parking ban is a burden on lots of folks in Newton, ranging from people with multigenerational households such as families with adult children, people with elderly parents who live with them and still drive, and generally people who have more cars in their household than they have off street parking spots for. The pause on the overnight parking ban during the pandemic showed that there are very few issues that are not insurmountable in allowing overnight parking year round. In some areas of the city, the MBTA Communities Act will require more dense zoning — and this will be more difficult to achieve without more on street parking.”
- [Barbara Schmitt]: “I feel very strongly that the ban should not be lifted, though I would not oppose shortening it to 12/15 – 3/15 or making certain limited exceptions such as cars parked only on wider streets and only two parking permits per household and only for those who don’t have off-street parking. I live near the Brighton line, and a lot of students who do not live in Newton park overnight on my street. It’s a narrow street, and the problem of navigating it in winter does not go away after a snow emergency because snowbanks linger for weeks. The new high-density developments nearby were permitted with limited parking, and that just means that people park one or more vehicles on the street, rather than actually reducing the number of cars they own. Most of the two-family homes on my street have only two off-street parking spots, so this means that only two adults can occupy them. If the winter parking ban is lifted, then the student population will flow in from Brighton. Four or more students sharing a unit can pay more rent than a family, which will price these units out of the reach of many of the families who now rely on them, making Newton’s housing crisis even worse.”
- [Arline MacCormack]: “I think we should do away with the ban, and have no on-street parking only during storms (snow emergencies).”
- [Elli Crocker]: “We are fortunate to have a driveway and garage, so are not terribly affected by the parking ban. I really appreciate the plows being able to clear the entire street — which is not possible in communities where there is no, or only a partial, parking ban. I would be fine with parking bans being exercised only during snow emergencies and allowing residents without off-street parking places to park in municipal lots for a certain length of time. I don’t think we need a blanket months-long parking ban.”
