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SALEM PARKING BOARD
PARKING TASK FORCE
MINUTES
AUGUST 31, 2011
A meeting of the Salem Parking Board’s Parking Task Force was held on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 4:30 pm. at 120 Washington Street, Salem, MA.
Parking Group |
Representative |
Present for this meeting |
Parking Board |
Michael Caggiano, Chair |
Yes |
Parking Board |
Sam Spatafore |
No |
Parking Board |
John Walsh |
Yes |
Parking Board |
Timothy Doggett |
No |
Parking Board |
Ben Bouchard, Salem Chamber of Commerce |
Yes |
Parking Department |
James Hacker, Director |
Yes |
Liaison to Council |
Arthur Sargent, City Councillor |
Yes |
City Administration/Employees |
Jason Silva, Mayor’s Office |
Yes |
Tourism/Visitors |
Kate Fox, Destination Salem |
No |
Shoppers/customers |
Jennifer Bell, Salem Main Streets |
Yes |
Downtown Business |
David Butler, Trolley Depot |
Yes |
South Harbor Garage parkers |
Maureen Foust, resident of Derby Lofts |
No |
Museum Place parkers |
Cheryl Michaels, resident of The Essex |
Yes |
Non-downtown resident using garage |
Patricia Zaido, Salem Partnership |
Yes |
Downtown resident (non-garage parker) |
Pam Broderick |
No |
- Minutes of the prior task force meeting were approved
- Discussion on the formulation of recommendations on the items below, beginning with the first topic (a). Topics not covered in this meeting will be carried over to the next Task Force meeting.
- Snow emergencies
- Zoning required resident passes
- Dedicated or guaranteed parking
- October parking/Haunted Happenings
- Tour busses
- Resident sticker program
- Visitor parking
- Construction workers parking
Mr. Caggiano explained that the Task Force’s mission was to suggest and recommend possible solutions to the Parking Board, who would then hold a public meeting to make recommendations to the City Council in September per the City Council Order. He explained the main topic of discussion for this meeting would be Resident Sticker Parking and Visitor Parking as they were the last items on the “parking lot list” not yet discussed. In addition, the Task Force had requested that the Parking Director make recommendations for snow emergencies and that they would be presented.
Resident Sticker Parking
The Parking Director reported on the current policy and procedures concerning Resident Sticker Parking including Visitor Passes. Concern was raised as to the abuse of the passes. The following suggestions were made:
- Add the registration number to the regular and visitor passes
- Create a sub zone
- Add the address or street - It was noted that the Salem Police Department is not in favor of the street address on the pass due to security. The Task Force instructed the Parking Director to check with the Salem Police Department to see if they objected to just the street name on the Visitor Passes.
- Only allow parking in an area within a reasonable distance near the street address
- Reduce Visitor Passes to one per unit
- Enforce the use of the Visitor Pass to ensure user is visiting the residence for which it is issued
- Bar code on Resident Passes. The Parking Director was instructed to explore this possibility.
- Parking Director represented that Tim Doggett suggested a plan be enacted where a resident could call and receive a Visitor Pass for that day.
Snow Emergencies
The Parking Director presented his recommendations for Snow Emergencies (attached).
During the discussion, mention was made to a previous agreement with Planning Department representative Tom Daniel to limit the amount of monthly and annual card sales each month.
The Parking Director stated that he spoke with Maureen Foust and that she was in favor of the recommendations except for on-street parking.
There was some discussion as to whether the full rate for snow emergencies at South Harbor was enough to discourage early parkers.
Shirley Walker (spectator) stated that she disagreed with the recommendations, using profanity in her remarks. Chairman Caggiano asked Ms. Walker to keep her remarks civil and stated that profanity or similar behavior would be cause for her removal from the future meetings.
The Chairman thanked the Task Force members for their input and expertise in helping to solve these difficult issues. He stated that the Parking Board would take up these issues at the next Parking Board meeting on September 12, 2011. The meeting adjourned at 6:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
James Hacker
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