Summary of the Parking Hearing
Last night's parking hearing went extremely well. The room was
packed to capacity with people from the Belfry Hill and Munroe Hill areas,
and there were many vociferous criticisms and suggestions offered.
Several recurring themes came up during the meeting that you should
know about if you were unable to attend:
- David Carbonneau and several selectmen who were attending
assured us that no precipitous decisions are about to be made.
This is to be the start of a long process where the town will
seek neighborhood input to help them find a solution.
- Businesses felt that there is a serious need for long-term parking
in the center for their employees, as a way to encourage their
employees not to displace customers by occupying metered spaces.
However, the owner of Peking Garden Restaurant opposed the proposal
because she did not see the need to expand into residential areas.
- Residents overwhelmingly felt that the proposed short term
solutions did not take into account the needs or interests of
residents, and ought to be completely rethought. Most felt that
any short-term solutions must not encroach on any residential areas,
and that the town should start investigating ways to alleviate
parking pressure for the long term.
- The neigborhoods offered many suggestions on how to make better
use of existing parking resources, including: over-subscription of
under-utilized parking spaces; making permits valid for any of the
town-rented spaces, rather than attaching a particular spot to each
permit; paying for more commercially available spaces; and making
use of the under-used Boston Edison lot. Any additional short-term
need could be addressed by satellite parking at the DPW lot,
accessible via frequent LexPress service.
- The neighborhoods also highlighted various costs to the current proposal
that the town had not properly elucidated, notably considerable safety
ramifications and the decrease in property values and tax revenues.
- Finally, members of the Merriam Hill association were in attendance,
and we all felt that splitting the discussion into North-of-town and
South-of-town meetings was unnecessarily divisive. The associations
plan to work closely together to ensure that any solution addresses
the concerns of all affected neighborhoods, and we hope that future
hearings on this matter will be held as a single, larger meeting,
perhaps in the LHS auditorium.
The Assistant Town Manager's office is setting up a working group with
four town employees, two business members, and four residents who will
recommend a plan to the selectmen. The directors of the BHNA will appoint
somebody to represent our area at our next board meeting, and we already
have a candidate in Paul Asquith, of 25 Clarke Street, who has devoted
considerable attention to parking issues over the past few years.
If you would like to make suggestions or express concerns about parking
should send your comments in writing to:
David Carbonneau, Assistant Town Manager
Town of Lexington, Lexington MA 02420.
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Also, you are welcome to pass your letters to one of the BHNA directors
and we will make sure that it is brought to the next working group meeting.
Thank you to everybody who attended and made this a successful meeting.
I think that Julian Bussgang deserves special appreciation for thorougly
researching the issue and presenting many constructive suggestions
on how to solve the short-term parking problem without encroaching
on residential areas.
Sincerely,
Joseph Lehar
33 Parker St
President, BHNA.
