Parking Ban Repeals

Overnight Parking Ban Eliminated

The following local towns successfully repealed their overnight parking bans and now implement parking bans only during snow emergencies.

Marblehead: Overnight parking ban eliminated in 2023: https://www.marblehead.org/home/news/overnight-parking-ban-winter-snow-emergencies-1

North Andover: Winter parking ban eliminated in 2021: https://patch.com/massachusetts/northandover/north-andover-snow-emergency-parking-rules-go-effect-dec-1

Gardner: Winter Parking ban eliminated in 2018: https://www.thegardnernews.com/story/news/2018/08/22/parking-ban-debate-shaping-up/10992563007/

In 2018, the chairman of the City Council subcommittee noted “that the current automatic nightly ban is flawed given that on most nights it does not snow.” “[The] other main criticism of the current ban is that the residents who are most likely to get ticketed for violating it — think multifamily home and apartment residents with limited parking access — are the ones “who can afford it the least.”

Wakefield: Parking ban eliminated in 2015 (https://localheadlinenews.com/night-parking-ban-ending/)

[The town administrator] noted that the ban was put in place to keep cars off the road during snow emergencies. But he maintained that this winter the town had shown that by using a combination of social media and reverse 911 “that we can get cars off the road when we need to.”

[The Police Chief] called the permanent overnight parking ban “inherently unfair” and further claimed that the parking ban was “a huge inconvenience that breeds ill will.” He maintained that the town had good success notifying residents this winter.

Waltham: Parking ban eliminated in 2013: (link is paywalled) https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2013/01/20/parking-ban-melts-away-for-now/f7DQyk6Hlw6aFkMDq5BjWL/story.html

The clerk of the city’s traffic commission stated: “The need for the parking ban seemed to melt away, so to speak, because the snow wasn’t there.” Additionally, “the city can also still declare a parking ban during a snow emergency so plows can clear the street.”

Medford: Parking ban eliminated in 2013: (link is paywalled) https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2013/01/27/winter-parking-ban-being-reconsidered/IEVLa35pLdQ9txLcW8G4PK/story.html

Medford’s winter parking ban restricted parking in the winter to one side of the street only. However, this left some residents without parking. Medford now has permit parking on specific streets. (https://www.medfordma.org/departments/parking)

Parking Ban Repeals in Progress

Arlington: Overnight Parking Pilot Program extended through 2025: https://www.arlingtonma.gov/Home/Components/News/News/13421/16

Watertown: A group of residents seek to end the parking ban: https://sites.google.com/view/betterparkingwatertown. See also:
https://www.watertownmanews.com/2024/10/24/letter-group-seeks-to-end-the-winter-parking-ban/

Newton: 10,000 signatures were collected to put the parking ban repeal on the ballot for 2025 https://www.repealparkingban.org/. See also:
https://figcitynews.com/2024/01/winter-parking-ban-to-go-to-voters-in-november-2025/

Newton’s winter parking ban was temporarily suspended during the Covid-19 emergency. This is what the town government said about the suspension:

During that winter, we found that we were still able to get cars off the streets during heavy snowstorms by declaring a snow emergency, so that our plows could clear our roadways curb to curb.