WESTFIELD – Parking permits for the city’s several off-street parking lots have been offered since early December and the parking regulations will begin to be enforced on Jan. 3.
While three hours parking are free, the day parking permits authorize parking for longer periods of time in the municipal lots at Depot Square, Railroad Avenue, River Walk, Franklin Street, Thomas Street and Arnold Street as well as the Reader 3 lot.
The Reader 1 and 2 lots are intended for short-term parking (less than two hours) and the restaurant lot allows for parking while patrons are in downtown restaurants. These lots are not covered by the day permits.
From November through March, night parking permits are required for overnight parking and vehicles without permits displayed on the driver’s side rear window will be ticketed by the parking enforcement officer, Gerry Crawford.
Crawford was hired by the Off Street Parking Commission in late fall and will start issuing tickets to parking offenders in the new year. Crawford was given authority by the city’s Police Commission to also enforce parking regulations on the streets of the core district of the city.
Overnight parking permits are also offered for sale at the parking commission’s office in City Hall and are offered at no additional cost to purchasers of a day permit.
The day permits cost $10 per month or $100 per year. Motorists who do not purchase a day permit may buy an overnight permit for $5 per month.
Overnight parking permits are also offered, free of charge, to residents of the core district who provide proof of residency.
Overnight parking, with a permit, is allowed in all the long-term parking lots but special regulations will apply during snow emergencies.
Signage in the lots will advise parkers of a phone number to call – 642 9411 – to listen to a recorded notification of the declaration of snow parking emergency.
During an emergency, use of the parking lots will be restricted to allow for snow removal and motorists will be required to move their vehicles to designated lots while snow removal operations are underway.
The city’s parking clerk, Denise Carey, said that accommodating parkers during snow removal efforts is a thorny issue for the commission to deal with and the resolution is complicated.
The details of the plan are available, she said, on the city’s website – cityofwestfield.org – and patrons of the parking lots are invited to call her at 572-6332 for clarification of the details of the plan.
