Westbrook may change its winter parking-ban policy to make it more convenient for residents without off-street spaces available to them.
The move comes after a renewed debate in what has been an ongoing discussion in the city over the years. While some residents find the ban too strict, safety personnel feel it is necessary to keep snow-congested streets open for safety vehicles.
“The current November to April parking ban is a hardship for many vehicle owners who live in Westbrook and visit the city for social and business purposes,” said Brown Street resident Christie Young, in a letter to the city.
Young said she is a young professional who moved to Westbrook from Portland to find affordable housing, but she found after moving that the parking ban in Westbrook was as much of a problem as it was in Portland.
“I had already moved in before I learned the true extent to which Westbrook’s current winter parking policy will be a problem for nearly half of the upcoming year,” said Young.
According to councilor Michael Foley, the council is hoping to gather more information before deciding on any course of action, if it takes any at all.
“The council asked the administration to look at other communities similar to Westbrook (i.e., Lewiston, Auburn, Biddeford, Saco),” Foley said this week, in the hopes of finding a convenient alternative. “It’s just kind of inconvenient.”
For his part, Foley said an option might be to shorten up the Nov. 15 to April 15 time frame by about a month on either end. Although no decision has been made by the council, he said, in general, the council is in favor of making the system more flexible.
“I am hoping that the parking ban can be, at the very least, modified,” said councilor Dotty Aube in an interview this week. “I know it is a real hardship for people who live in densely populated areas, apartments, etc.”
The current parking ban prohibits parking for more than one hour between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. from Nov. 15 to April 15. According to Westbrook Public Services Director Tom Eldridge, vehicles aren’t towed until 1 a.m. in practice, and efforts are made to contact the vehicle owner before towing.
“This ban, as it relates to snow removal operations, works very well for Public Services as it provides a period of time for crews to perform ‘pushing back’ and/or clean-up operations during storm events,” Eldridge wrote in a recent memo to City Administrator Jerre Bryant.
Bryant agreed with Eldridge, saying that while the November-to-April ban is inconvenient for residents without off-street parking, changes to the ban would make snow removal more expensive.
The ban also provides predictability for police. With a permanent ban, residents understand they’re not allowed to park on the street. However, if the ban was irregular, such as in Portland’s Old Port on snow nights, towing needs would be greater for the city.
Westbrook Police Chief Paul McCarthy said police have to tow about a dozen cars each night during the winter ban.
“Were we to eliminate the ban, the projection would be that we would be looking at the need to tow something over 100 cars each storm even in order to ensure that the streets remain open for public safety and the motoring public,” said McCarthy.
The council will discuss the parking ban modification at a Public Safety Committee meeting before its next full council meeting. The meeting will be held on Monday at 6 p.m. in room 114 at Westbrook High School, and will be open to the public.
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