Hi everyone,
Here are the latest updates regarding the Overnight Parking Ban petition.
Petition Status:
I am still collecting signatures and plan to send the petition to the Select Board later this week. If you know anyone who might be interested in signing the petition, please ask them to make a request here: https://winchesterparkingban.us/take-action/
Process for Changing the Ban:
According to staff at the Select Board’s office, this is the process for making changes to the overnight parking ban:
- Submit the petition to the Select Board’s Office
- This petition will most likely be sent to TRC (the Traffic Review Committee) to investigate the petition and submit their recommendations to the Select Board. (Note: the TRC is not the same as the now-defunct TTAC.)
- Once the TRC has made their recommendations, the petition will be added to the agenda of a Select Board meeting as a public hearing.
- The Select Board will notify Winchester residents of the proposed changes and invite residents to attend the public hearing.
- At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Select Board will vote on whether or not to enact the changes.
Upcoming Select Board Meetings:
The next Select Board meetings are:
- February 26th
- March 11th
I don’t know how long the TRC review will take, but the Select Board’s office mentioned that the agenda for February 26 was already full. So possibly the petition will be added to the agenda on March 11th.
Important People:
The following people will be critical in the decision-making process of this petition:
*The 5 Select Board members
- Richard M Mucci, 2024 – Chair
- Anthea Brady, 2025 – Vice Chair
- Michael Bettencourt, 2024
- John Fallon, 2025
- Michelle Prior, 2026
We need 3 of these members to vote in favor of the petition.
*Members of the TRC
I don’t yet have a full list of these members; at the moment I only know that the Town Engineer (https://www.winchester.us/directory.aspx?eid=16) is a part of this group and possibly heads the committee.
*The Town Manager?
Beth Rudolph is our town manager and sits in on the Select Board meetings but I don’t think she participates in the voting.
Other News:
I have contacted the local Network for Social Justice (https://nfsj.org/) and am currently in talks with them regarding their support of this ban.
I have recently contacted the Select Board on a separate (but related) issue regarding targeted enforcement of specific streets. My enquiry regarded how best to work with the town government to stop this practice. I will give updates when I know more.
Donate:
Absolutely no pressure, but if anyone would like to give a (non-tax-deductible) donation to this effort to support the costs (including website hosting, domain registration, other IT expenses, evidence gathering, etc.), a link is below. (Suggested donation: the price of 1 parking ticket :)))
