Winter Parking Ban

[Howard Rosenof]

A few weeks ago I posted to this list arguments against the repeal of the overnight winter parking ban – I recommended a “no” vote to keep it. Now that ballots have gone out, I’m going to briefly revisit the question. It deserves our attention. For those who have only about a minute, I’ve copied a statement by Councilor Randy Block (Ward 4):

Voters are being asked to repeal the overnight winter parking ban.  In addition to making it easier to clean streets of snow, this parking ban serves a second critical purpose. It ensures that developers create off-street parking for their tenants. Without this overnight parking ban, we can expect developers to build ever larger housing units without any off-street parking. Consequently, the streets will get more congested and difficult to navigate. A very small number of people currently do not have off-street parking. We can help them with a special permit for overnight parking without lifting the ban for the entire city.

A few days ago the Newtonville Area Council (we don’t have one in West Newton) hosted a discussion on the ballot question, in which I participated. If you’re willing to invest a little more time - exactly 5 minutes and 43 seconds - the two sides’ opening statements begin at 5:57 and end at 11:40. (Of course, you’ll be able to learn even more by listening to the entire discussion, and you can reduce the time required by increasing playback speed.)

Find it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fyjH10TCMceta4e3Lyb6vLMLcxLvhLHl/view

For more information, including statements by other city leaders, see

https://www.newtonparking.com/

[Michael Halle]

Howard makes thoughtful some comments.

I think with or without the winter parking ban, we will likely need parking regulations for streets around large developments if only to address the fear of residents using more off street parking.

If it is a year round problem, it should have a year round solution.

Just for a "for instance": I know from our own family that downsizing older residents find new larger housing units attractive because of up to date accessibility and elevators. 

We also know that Newton has many snowbirds who live in warmer climates in the winter. Our neighbor, a former police officer actually has a service driving cars down to Florida and the back. Or people may drive their cars themselves.

Snowbirds in the new developments would be completely unaffected by the winter parking ban. They can park their cars on the street for 8 months of the year.

Would this be a big problem?  I don't know. But it is an example of why we need effective and tailored regulations to address problems or concerns about problems. 

The overnight parking ban is a blunt, untailored instrument. Keep it or not, we shouldn't use it as an excuse to avoid coming up with actual good solutions.  And if we come up with those necessary solutions, do we need the ban?

-Mike

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From: 'Howard Rosenof' via West Newton Community <westnewtonn...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2025 8:33:15 PM
To: westnewtonn...@googlegroups.com <westnewtonn...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [WNewton] Winter Parking Ban

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[Andreae Downs]

A lot of the reason that Council didn’t work on a solution was that anything that touched the ban would be affected by its overturning. Why spend time fixing something that will be voted out? But we did do the groundwork, and that’s why John Oliver and Pam Wright  know that parking permit programs are available.

On Oct 16, 2025, at 10:16 PM, Michael Halle <m...@halle.us> wrote:



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