Our Campaign

Our campaign to repeal Newton's overnight parking ban officially began in 2023. Throughout 2023, we collected more than 10,000 signatures to put our question on the ballot. Along the way, the City Council shot down our request for a trial repeal of the overnight parking ban as well as as a request to shorten its dates slightly. Now we are on the ballot this November and are ready to fight!

 

Background

The winter overnight parking ban is outdated, unnecessary, and the cause of many hardships. The pandemic-era experiment of not having a winter overnight parking ban (for two winters) showed no negative consequences to lifting the ban and made residents’ lives easier. Additionally, feedback solicited through the Mayor’s newsletter showed overwhelming support citywide for lifting or at least reforming the ban. Unfortunately, the City Council has refused to repeal the parking ban, even as a trial. The Fire, Police, and Public Works departments have all stated that repealing the parking ban would not be detrimental to public safety. Our proposal would keep in place parking restrictions during declared snow emergencies, and violators would continue to be punished by tow.

Why the Overnight Parking Ban is Problematic

• Creates difficulty in accommodating visitors and home health aides
• Encourages removal of trees, lawns, and other green spaces by necessitating driveway expansions
• Discourages multigenerational households, potentially uprooting longstanding Newton families
• Negatively affects Newton's commercial viability in the following ways: reducing the available talent pool by making it harder for working people to live in Newton, limiting potential customers by incentivizing smaller households, and creating barriers for overnight workers (e.g., custodians, bakers, etc.) by not allowing them to park
• Perpetuates disrespect for people's time by forcing them to shuffle cars or walk to/from remote parking arrangements (municipal lots or otherwise)
• Causes our City to miss out on one of the cheapest and most effective traffic calming measures — parked cars

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is the ban a big deal? Can’t those people who are affected just park in the municipal lots? And shouldn’t they have known what they were getting into when they moved here?
   The ban is a big deal to many in Newton who have limited driveway space but need to accommodate, for example, multiple household members who drive to work or home health aides. Municipal lots are not a realistic option for families with children and are not present in every village. Additionally, circumstances can change – new job, growing family, unexpected disability – but this is no excuse to force people out of Newton.
2. What do the public works, fire, and police departments think about permanently lifting the winter overnight parking ban?
   At the February 22, 2023 Public Safety & Transportation Committee meeting, Public Works Commissioner Jim McGonagle, Fire Chief Greg Gentile, and Police Superintendent George McMains (now serving as Police Chief) all stated that permanently lifting the winter overnight parking ban will not be detrimental to public safety. They also expressed support for simply lifting the ban rather than a permit/waiver system.
3. Isn't this bad for the environment?
   One of the best ways to help the environment is to reduce “vehicle miles traveled”. We should make it easy for people who need to drive to move to and stay in Newton so that they can have shorter commutes.
4. I live on a tight street — won't this make my situation even worse?
   We recognize that Newton has some narrow streets where parking regulation is needed to ensure safe passage. However, the overnight parking ban as a 'one-size-fits-all' policy is not the proper solution. For those streets where regulation is needed, specific regulations implemented can and should be implemented by the Traffic Council, which would actually be more effective. Removing an unnecessary parking ban from streets where such a ban is not needed will also allow those streets where regulations serve an important public safety purpose to be prioritized for enforcement.
5. Where will people park during snow emergencies?
   This proposal only affects those nights when there is no snow emergency declared. People with limited parking will continue to make arrangements for off-street parking during snow emergencies, for example in private garages, by coordinating with neighbors, or by simply lining their cars up in a narrow tandem driveway which would be impractical other nights of the year.
6. Won't this lead to influx of BC and Lasell students parking their cars on residential streets?
   Neighborhoods near BC and Lasell already have robust parking regulations that are far more strict than the winter overnight parking ban. This proposal also does not prevent the Traffic Council from implementing further parking restrictions on specific streets.