Do you support keeping or repealing the city’s winter overnight parking ban?

Leading up to the November 4 local election, the Newton Beacon asked candidates in competitive elections for mayor and city council:

Do you support keeping or repealing the city’s winter overnight parking ban?

John Chaimanis, City Council Candidate, Ward 4 At-Large: Keeping. There are beneficial and detrimental arguments on both sides of the issue.  The fact that this matter is important enough to have made it to a ballot question, is good democracy.  However, ultimately, I do not believe this should be a citywide decision; we need a more nuanced solution to properly address on-street parking year-round.

Cyrus Dahmubed, City Council Candidate, Ward 4 At-Large: No position. I have selected “no position” because the question is unclear. However, the answer is that this will be decided by all of us on November 4, and regardless of the results of the ballot question an “all-or-nothing” approach means a plan that works for some people in some places, and doesn’t work for some people in other places. The City Council has the opportunity to take a careful, thoughtful, and precise approach to designing a plan that is more nuanced and works better for everyone, and I believe that my skills as an architectural and urban designer would be uniquely useful to this question.

Lisa Gordon, City Council Candidate, Ward 6 At-Large: : Keeping. I am glad this question is being to put to the residents, and I will respect voters’ decisions if they choose to repeal it, but the City Council will still need to balance community preferences with maintaining parking controls. I see the parking ban issue as a symptom of the larger cause: we need to better manage citywide parking. Regardless of the outcome of the vote the City Council should create a comprehensive parking plan that will work for all neighborhoods and not burden residents. For example, I am concerned that with the reduction in parking for new developments our streets will become more trafficked. For this reason we need a comprehensive plan.

Julie Irish, City Council Candidate, Ward 5: Repealing. I support repealing Newton’s winter overnight parking ban because the policy is outdated and no longer reflects the needs of our community. Newton’s Fire, Police, and Public Works departments have all stated that ending the ban would not create a public safety concern. A one-size-fits-all rule doesn’t work in a city as diverse as Newton, where streets differ in width, density, and parking availability. There are better solutions, such as allowing parking on only one side, creating parking pass systems, or using targeted storm rules. As a Ward Councilor, I would commit to working street by street with residents and city staff to determine the most practical and fair parking approach for each neighborhood.

Josh Krintzman, City Council Candidate, Ward 4 At-Large: Repealing. A blanket, one-size-fits-all approach to parking is foolish. We have better ways to prohibit parking during snow emergencies or in neighborhoods where we want to prevent overnight parking. We can easily implement more targeted prohibitions in areas of the city that warrant such a ban.

Marc Laredo, Mayoral Candidate: Keeping. I believe that the winter parking ban serves important public safety purposes, especially in winters with heavy snow. However, I will respect the will of the voters and, if they vote to eliminate it, will not try to undo that vote.

Garry Miller, City Council Candidate, Ward 5: Repealing. As an Upper Falls resident where many homeowners have small driveways that cannot fit additional cars, this is an issue that has affected me personally, as visitors are unable to stay overnight in the winter as there is nowhere for them to park even though there are plenty of empty spaces on the street.

Sean Roche, City Council Candidate, Ward 6 At-Large: No position. The overnight parking ban is a real dilemma. In some neighborhoods of Newton, the parking ban is a real hardship. In some neighborhoods, there’s credible reason to believe that lifting the ban will result in real hardship. And, it would be complex to design neighborhood-by-neighborhood solutions and difficult to enforce. I’m inclined to follow the will of the voters on the referendum as the best barometer of relative hardship. And, then do the hard work to make parking work on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis.