By Adam Swift
One city councillor is looking to change who grants relief for off-street parking in Revere.
Last week, Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley introduced a motion seeking to revise the city’s off-street parking ordinance, giving the final say on off-street parking relief requests to the council rather than the zoning board of appeals.
“I’m bringing this motion in as a follow up to the motion that was recently submitted regarding changing the zoning board of appeals to an elected body, which I am in full support of,” said Kelley. “However, considering that that might take a while, if it even turns out to be successful, that change that this motion is requesting is something that we can get done now as the city council and it does not require a home rule petition process.”
Last month, Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro introduced a motion for a home rule petition to change the ZBA from an appointed to an elected body. Cogliandro said the move would put more power into the hands of the residents and neighborhoods.
“Currently, requests for reductions in parking requirements are done by way of variances through the ZBA,” said Kelley.
Kelley’s motion would require that those requests are instead done by way of a special permit from the city council.
“I think we can all agree that the parking requirements are a cornerstone of urban planning,” she said. “They deeply impact traffic flow, alter street congestion, affect public space usage, and emergency service access. Since they have such broad implications, they are better suits to be dealt with by an elected body like the city council, which is directly answerable to voters, rather than an appointed body such as the ZBA.”
An appointed body such as the ZBA does not have the same accountability to residents that the council does as an elected body, Kelley said.
“The bottom line is that we as council members are held to account and answer to residents, demonstrated by residents either voting us in or voting us out,” she said. “Therefore, important decisions such as these regarding parking reductions should rest with us and not the unelected members of the ZBA.”
The public hearing on the ordinance change is scheduled for the council’s Monday, April 28 meeting.
