Traffic Commission Discusses Resident Sticker Parking Program

The City-Wide Residency Parking Sticker Program is another step closer to enactment following a public forum conducted by the Revere Traffic Commission.

The Commission, led by Chairman Paul Argenzio, listened as city councillors and residents took the podium and commented on the parking ordinance document that was put together by the City Council and developed by City Clerk Ashley Melnik and City Planner Frank Stringi.

The final step in the review process is expected to be a Traffic Commission public forum and vote on April 25. Revere Parking Director Jim Rose would then decide on a rollout date for implementation of the program.

Argenzio stated at the outset of the meeting that the city-wide program would be in effect from 12 a.m. (midnight) to 6 a.m., with one sticker granted  for each vehicle registered in Revere. Each household could apply for one visitor pass. The parking permits would be free for residents with registered vehicles, $10 for the visitor placards.

Council President Arthur Guinasso opened the public comment portion, saying he would like to see residency parking implemented “as quickly as possible.”

“We have all kinds of things going on in our community, between Airbnb, Logan Airport, and all types of activities that warrant overnight parking,” said Guinasso. “If they don’t have the legal source to place [their vehicles], they use our public streets. This is happening through most of our city.”

 Guinasso noted that “everybody is fearful of change” but neighboring communities have implemented overnight parking regulations “and those folks are coming in to Revere and parking in Revere and that’s so unfair to our residents.”

Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, one of the sponsors of the resident-sticker motion, said that Beachmont is being “inundated and overcrowded” with cars.

“There is a lot of people who don’t have driveways and have to park on the streets,” said McKenna. “We have a rooming house and we have seven cars and they all have Florida plates. I’m sure they’re not registered in Revere.”

McKenna said Chelsea, Winthrop, and Everett have resident-sticker parking, “so we have Winthrop people parking in Beachmont, Everett people parking up in Ward 6 – it will eliminate a lot of these cars that are not registered in Revere and it will also bring in excise tax for the city.

“This is one of the biggest concerns that our residents have besides traffic,” said McKenna, who advocated for quick passage of the program.

Ward 4 Councillor Patrick Keefe said he was a big proponent of the program. “Getting this implemented and working on it case by case will be the best path forward, and you have my full support,” said Keefe.

Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky said his ward and the Beachmont area are the “movst impacted” by non-residents parking their vehicles on the streets.

“People coming from other cities are parking here,” said Novoselsky. “Taxi drivers are leaving their cars and parking overnight. We have to start somewhere and work on it and move along. We can start, and tweak it later if we have to.”

Ward 5 City Councillor John Powers called the launch of a city-wide resident parking sticker program “long overdue.” He said the area around the Wonderland MBTA Station is heavily impacted by vehicles.

“Any area that is adjacent to an MBTA Station should definitely all be resident parking,” said Powers.

Councillor-at-Large Jessica Giannino, also a co-sponsor of the resident parking motion, said a new ordinance will help people who live near MBTA stations, bus stops, “areas where people will park their vehicles and leave, and this will alleviate a lot of that pressure.”

Giannino said the new ordinance will also help address the issue of people living in illegal apartments and parking their vehicles “on our streets.”

Eric Lampedecchio asked several questions to the Commission, including whether the program would be implemented city-wide, even if there were no parking issues in certain neighborhoods.

 â€œThis would be city wide, all streets and just overnight,” replied Argenzio.

Lampedecchio also asked whether the visitor parking pass process could be made more convenient for residents hosting guests.

“You would have to display that [visitor] placard,” said Argenzio, who did an excellent job directly addressing each of Lampedecchio’s concerns.

In the course of the meeting, it was determined that the Commission will likely use a two-color format for parking stickers to distinguish residents who live and park their vehicles near the MBTA stations.

“In that way, the [parking enforcement] officers will know what sticker applies to each area and it will make it a lot easier for them and I think that cures a lot of problems,” said Argenzio. 

Police Chief Guido agreed with a personal safety-oriented recommendation from a resident that a home address should not appear on the resident parking sticker. Instead a permit number will be placed on the sticker.

 Argenzio felt the meeting was productive in garnering public input and generating some useful recommendations for the ordinance.

“We received a lot of good suggestions,” said Argenzio. “I think the public input was very important to finalizing this.”