NEWS

Overnight parking is a problem, but there’s no easy answer

By EMMA BARTLETT
Posted 10/18/22

Legislation allowing overnight street parking permits came before the City Council’s Ordinance Committee Thursday night. While the ordinance was ultimately withdrawn by councilwoman and sponsor …

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NEWS

Overnight parking is a problem, but there’s no easy answer

Posted

Legislation allowing overnight street parking permits came before the City Council’s Ordinance Committee Thursday night. While the ordinance was ultimately withdrawn by councilwoman and sponsor Aniece Germain, the conversation among elected officials and public safety personnel demonstrated that overnight parking is a problem with no easy answer.

Under city code, overnight street parking exceeding two hours between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. is prohibited. Germain’s proposal would allow owners of single-family and multi-family homes (with four adults who have a valid driver’s license) to apply for a parking permit that would let them keep their vehicle on the street throughout the entire night. The permit would cost a maximum of $10 per month and be displayed on the front, right side of the vehicle.

“People park their cars on the streets for various reasons. Certain [people] have options but others do not. Some families have no choice but to park outside of their homes,” wrote Germain in an email to constituents on the issue.

She added that the community is growing and most properties have two cars.

“We need to accommodate the increase in the population,” Germain wrote.

The last ordinance attempting to tackle overnight street parking came before the council in 2017 as a trial program on several streets within the city and was unsuccessful.

Public safety personnel expressed their concerns about Germain’s ordinance including Fire Chief James Warren who acknowledged that while overnight parking is an issue within the city, it does affect the department’s response time. He added that firetrucks already have a hard time getting around older neighborhoods such as Edgewood, Arlington and Auburn; the last three engines the Fire Department purchased went from 44 feet long to 38 feet.

“It does affect us. Those narrow streets become even narrower in the winter time. The snow, the trash cans become issues for us,” said Warren.

Chief of Police Colonel Michael Winquist agreed that emergency response time would be affected and added onto Warren’s concerns.

“As a Police Department, having the advantage of having no cars on the street during a certain time late in the evening allows us to detect stolen vehicles and abandoned vehicles a lot easier,” said Winquist.

He referenced the city’s recent car break-ins from the last few months and said overnight street parking would make stealing easier for the average criminal who could now walk up and down streets trying each car door rather than having to approach cars parked in driveways. According to Winquist, if there’s a narcotics transaction or someone looking to burglarize a house, it’s a lot harder for people to blend in if there are no cars on the street between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Additionally, overnight street parking could cause an issue for those backing out of their driveways because the driver’s viewpoint is inhibited.

“We do think that you’ll probably see more overnight parking because people feel more at liberty to park without a permit and they’ll tuck in between two or three cars that have a permit,” Winquist said. 

Winquist said one of the biggest complaints the department receives concerns overnight parking – which police spend a lot of effort enforcing.

The department does allow temporary overnight parking for individuals doing work to their residence or are in a dire situation. He also questioned who would handle the parking permits, issue them and keep track of the documents; he said the department does not have the staff for this task.

The fine for overnight parking is between $25 and will increase overtime if it is left unpaid. Winquist said Thursday there is no provision for towing a vehicle that’s parked illegally overnight – only in parking bans will vehicles be towed if left on the street.

On behalf of the Public Works Department, Chief of Staff Anthony Moretti said overnight street parking could be a problem with street sweeping, refuse collection and neighborhood aesthetics. Additionally, when there are parking bans, where will the vehicles go? The Police Department had added it’s hard enough now to get cars off the street and that police will end up banging on a lot more doors.

Moretti said the city could also experience higher costs through more claims from emergency vehicles coming through neighborhoods and hitting parked vehicles.

Attorney Stephen Angell suggested withdrawing the ordinance and told council members there were logistical elements to figure out such as who would administer the sticker program and how much would this project cost. Angell added that Boston has a framework for overnight street parking and suggested a workshop between the council, public safety and public works to consider the fiscal impacts before drafting an ordinance.

“You need a more robust framework that considers all the departmental constituencies and their concerns within the city before you move forward with this,” said Angell.

After hearing from public safety, Germain said overnight street parking has received pushback from the police and fire departments for the past 10 years. She added that more people are living in multi-family homes and with the latest census of Cranston having over 80,000 residents, there is a need to adjust parking with the population.

“I’m not going to reinvent the wheel,” Germain said Monday, adding that the amendment allows overnight parking only to those who are eligible.

While a ticket may not seem that costly, Germain said amidst inflation and costs of living, a lot of people are squeezing by. She said this ordinance could help accommodate families so they can live in Cranston and live a decent life. She added that other cities like Providence and Pawtucket have a variation of rules for overnight street parking.

On Monday, Germain said she’s been working on this ordinance for two years and worked with constituents to receive input. In September she was informed that there was a group of four council members working on an overnight street parking ordinance. Since they could not work directly with each other because it would be an open meetings violation, Germain was under the impression that the two ordinances would be on the October Ordinance Committee meeting’s docket so council members could have a conversation about them and the two ordinances could be merged. She said she was surprised when the other overnight parking ordinance wasn’t on the agenda.

Council President Chris Paplauskas thanked Germain for her passion on the subject and agreed with her that the days of the family station wagon are over since families have two or three cars. While Paplauskas made a motion to table the ordinance, Germain withdrew the ordinance because, if the item were tabled, two-thirds of the council would have to vote it back to the floor; Germain didn’t want to depend on the majority of the council to vote it back on.

Councilman John Donegan said in the first three years on the council, he received a lot of remarks from people for and against overnight street parking. In the last year, a lot more residents have reached out because not being able to park on the street overnight has affected them.

“I think as a policy, I agree we should have an overnight parking program,” said Donegan, adding that there is room to work and come to the table to incorporate concerns from legal, police and fire.

Germain said her goal is to improve the quality of life for not only her constituents but residents throughout the city. She’s ready to come back on the topic of this ordinance with a strategy. For the Oct. 24 full City Council meeting, Germain plans to ask who initiates the process of proceeding with a workshop and go from there.

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