Council Airs Its Complaints About DCR Meter Program

Despite Mayor Brian Arrigo’s efforts to negotiate a compromise that will allow residents on the westerly side of Revere Beach Boulevard from Revere Street to Carey Circle to park free of charge on that side, the City Council and residents continue to be dismayed by the DCR implementation of a metered parking program on Revere Beach Boulevard.

The parking meter program is set to begin this Saturday, May 1 at a cost of $1.25 per hour.

In addition to the program being a source of irritation among residents, it’s been a source of confusion at all levels.

Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna wondered why residents who live in other residences on the westerly side, including the Atlantic Towers and the new Ryder apartments at the beginning of Revere Beach, would still have parking meters in front of their buildings even though those buildings are on the westerly side.

“I want to voice my disappointment that these residents that live at the beginning of the beach didn’t get the same consideration as the people from Revere Street all the way to up to Point of Pines,” said McKenna.

City Council President Anthony Zambuto opened another avenue in the discussion by stating that after meeting with Mayor Brian Arrigo, he learned that “every citizen that has a car registered in the city of Revere will receive a beach sticker and that allows you to park on the westerly side of the beach from Revere Street to Carey Circle and all of Ocean Avenue.

“That’s what will happen in the very near future,” said Zambuto.”

Councilor-at-Large George Rotondo seemed to summarize best the sentiments of Revere residents who have been parking free of charge for generations at the nation’s first public beach. Rotondo is not at all pleased with the DCR’s decision to implement the program, especially so during an ongoing pandemic that hit Revere very hard.

“This is no reflection on the Mayor’s Office, but this is egregious,” said Rotondo. “Seventeen hundred parking spaces, 23,000-plus residents with cars within our community, well over 2,000 seniors up and down the Boulevard – more importantly people are going to be acrimonious and fighting for spaces where these new developments start from Eliot to Carey Circle,” said Rotondo. “This is just foolish.”

Rotondo added, “Quite honestly putting meters down there has a huge impact on those people who need to be given care from an OT, PT, a nurse, or respiratory therapist. The people at the Satter House have suffered enough. Their parking spaces are basically being taken away with this particular process.”

Ward 5 Councillor John Powers said his original interpretation of the parking program was that residents on Revere Beach Boulevard would receive stickers that would give them “first priority” for the parking spaces on the westerly side from Revere Street to Carey Circle. As it stands today, any resident of Revere or elsewhere will be able to park free of charge in those spaces.

“I hope the mayor will look to address this the best he can,” said Powers.

Residents Wayne Rose, Niko Kostopoulos, and Pat Melchionno all expressed their displeasure with the parking meter program.

“There’s no parking spaces at the beginning of the beach anymore on Ocean Avenue because you took them all away from the Beachmont residents,” said Rose. “We don’t need meters here. We’ve never had them. Even in the beach’s heyday, the state never tried to raise revenue from this beach because it’s an historic beach.” Kostopoulos said, “Obviously nobody wants the meters. Obviously I feel the same way. I’m just curious as to why DCR feels they can just impose this on the Revere residents. I’d like to know as a city, what are we doing to fight that?”