Have you been affected by the overnight parking ban? Please share your story in the comments. (Note: all comments are moderated; please allow 24 hours for approval.)
Share Your Story
Have you been affected by the overnight parking ban? Please share your story in the comments. (Note: all comments are moderated; please allow 24 hours for approval.)
2 responses to “Share Your Story”
Since 2019 I’ve lived in a complex on Washington Street that has an upper parking lot located a significant ways away from my front door.
I am physically disabled and also have a handicapped placard. The complex I reside in unfortunately does not offer handicapped parking or have an appropriate place to to install a handicapped spot. I have been parking on Washington Street across from my complex.
This season, I’ve received 5 parking tickets (1-the Thursday evening 1/11 before the storm on MLK day. 2 after the storm -1/17 & 1/8-and this is after contacting a town hall official and a sergeant at the Winchester PD about my concern) for overnight parking.
I’d also like to highlight that my car was moved off of Washington Street and parked down at the Jenks lot for the recent storm. In fact, my car has been moved off of Washington Street and parked down at the Jenks lot whenever there has been a snowstorm/snow emergency since I’ve lived at this address.
I understand the town has a year-round parking ban however I am the only licensed driver in my household and do not always have someone who can tote my car to and from this lot. My situation not only would call for someone to drive my car down to the Jenks lot but would also require someone to drive another car to pick up the person who is dropping off my car. It’s hugely inconvenient.
I’ve tried to call ride sharing like Uber like Uber or Lyft to only have my request be canceled because it’s less than a mile from my house to the Jenks lot.
I wholeheartedly agree with moving cars off of a main road during a snowstorm and snow emergency but have a hard time understanding the issue for the remaining days out of the year. Hoping this page will bring new light and a resolution to this concern.
Winchester has always felt like home. I grew up on Lloyd Street, left for college and my twenties, and came back a few months ago to my mom’s condominium on Washington Street. I always had the sense that Winchester would be waiting for me whenever I needed it, and after an unexpected breakup, a few months ago WAS that time! I received a parking ticket on the first night that I was back in Winchester. I was shocked! I spent years living in Cambridge, East Boston and South Boston – I wondered why I received a ticket in this suburb and not those crowded city neighborhoods.
My parents brought me home from the hospital to Winchester, I went to each year of school in Winchester, I drove home from the DMV after getting my driver’s license to Winchester — Winchester is my home. I never received an overnight parking ticket before this winter. The sudden enforcement of the parking ban feels like a rejection from a place that I thought I could always come back to. I have to leave for work at 0545 and I am not interested in walking to the Jenks before working a twelve hour shift.
My plan was to stay in Winchester for a while while I heal and rebuild. Since my mom’s condominium only has one parking spot, that plan is not feasible. I feel stunned and saddened to be shut out by a place that I thought was home.