Halloween Parking Information for 24 Norman Street

The side lot at 24 Norman street will be chained and locked starting Tuesday night 10/29/13 through Friday morning 11/01/13. This is in anticipation of record crowds in Salem. In past years we have had issues with non-residents parking in the side lot during the Halloween festivities, and because of road closings and heavy traffic, were unable to have them towed.
If you have any questions about this or issues, please contact Markwood Management at 781-639-4080.

In addition the City of Salem has announced
Road Closures & No Parking Zones for Halloween.
All closures subject to change based on traffic and public safety considerations

SALEM, MA – The City of Salem has announced the following planned road closures and temporary parking restrictions for Halloween, October 31st. These closures are subject to change based on conditions, crowd size, and other public safety factors.

Visitors planning to come to Salem on October 26th, 27th, or 31st are strongly encouraged to take the commuter rail (www.mbta.com/riding_the_t/haunted_happenings/) or ride the Salem-to-Boston Ferry (www.bostonharborcruises.com/salem-ferry/). For more information about traveling to Salem during Halloween visit http://hauntedhappenings.org/arrive and to be notified about road closures follow www.twitter.com/getthruoctober.

Streets closed to traffic at approximately 4:00 p.m., no later than 5:00 p.m., and until approximately 11:30 p.m.

1. Washington St. from New Derby to Bridge St.
2. Essex St. from Barton Square to Union St.
3. Derby St. from Lafayette St. to Congress St.
4. Brown St. at New Liberty St. Second backup closure at Howard St.
5. Lafayette St. from Derby to Front St.
6. Hawthorne Blvd. from Derby St. to Essex St.
7. Washington Sq. West from Essex to Brown St. Washington Sq. South closed. Washington Sq. North closed from Brown to Winter St.
8. Winter St. at Bridge St. closed to inbound traffic.
9. Williams St. at Bridge St.
10. Congress St. closed at South Harbor Garage. Vehicles will be detoured to Pickering Way out to Derby St. Derby St. inbound traffic detoured to Little Hawthorne Blvd., right on Essex St. (Traffic direction will be reversed on Little Hawthorne Blvd.)

Streets closed to traffic from 10:00 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.

1. Bridge St. will be closed to traffic between the westerly ramps and the Bypass Road.
2. Incoming Bridge St northbound traffic will be detoured up westerly ramps to North Street. Bypass Road inbound traffic from Beverly will be diverted back to Bridge Street and back to Beverly. Incoming southbound traffic from Bridge Street will be diverted to the Bypass Road and back to Beverly.
3. Franklin Street may be closed to traffic if needed.

Other closures or openings could be decided as
special circumstances arise.

No parking tow zones from 4:00 p.m. to midnight

1.      Lafayette St. both sides Front to Derby St.
2.      Public parking lot along Front St. Public parking spaces
         located on Central St. in front of old police station.
3.      Essex St. from Barton Sq. to Hawthorne Blvd.
4.      Derby St. both sides between Congress and Lafayette St.
5.      Hawthorne Blvd. both sides.
6.      Front St.
7.      Central St.
8.      Washington St. from New Derby to Bridge St. both sides.
9.      Washington Sq. North, South, and West both sides.
10.     Federal St. both sides from Washington to Superior Court.
11.     Norman St. from Washington to Crombie St.
12.     Franklin St. on the Furlong Park/North River side of the street.
13.     New Derby St. between Klop Alley and Lafayette St.

Remain Calm and Don't Be A Dick

This building sometimes feels like a group of individuals who just happen to occupy the same space, but like it or not, by living here, you are part of a community.
When you live in a community there is give and take. You are not living in a shack in Montana where you can do whatever you want, at any hour, without consequence. With 39 units crammed into a fairly small building and a wide variety of owners, tenants, schedules and lifestyles, it is no great surprise that there are conflicts. Conflicts between neighbors, conflicts between owners and tenants, conflicts between tenants and Markwood Management.

Now most of these are minor, and involve either sound disturbances, minor violations of the condo association bylaws, or both. Many times these conflicts are resolved through dialogue and communication between the parties involved, simply talking to the person and explaining the situation. Concessions and adjustments are made. Most people are rational, reasonable, and wish to avoid problems rather than exacerbate them. A little courtesy goes a long way.

However, every now and then you get a tenant who for one reason or another, digs in their heels and escalates issues to the point of legal action. This is often characterized by open antagonism, mild vandalism, and/or threatening behavior. Maybe they have an ongoing grudge against Markwood, or are angry at some perceived slight, maybe they think highly of themselves and have an unnaturally enlarged sense of entitlement, maybe their mommies didn't love them enough as children, maybe they even have a legitimate gripe...who knows..the point is, that kind of anti-social behavior is totally unacceptable.

The law provides tools for dealing with these kind of people, however the effectiveness of those tools are limited if these people"dig in". The law works best when people are reasonable; when they are unreasonable, the effectiveness of law diminishes in direct proportion to how unreasonable the offending person wishes to be.

Markwood uses fines and/or civil action to enforce the condo bylaws. The bylaws are not arbitrary. They have evolved over the last 30 years in dealing with the issues of many people living in a small space in an urban area. They are there for good reason and need to be enforced so that we can all live here in comfort and safety. Enforcement takes time, effort and money, and most importantly, participation. People get away with bad behavior for years when people don't get involved, call them on it, or stick to their guns when it gets difficult to do so.

It is only through communication, persistence and community that we keep this building a decent place to live. If you have an ongoing conflict with a neighbor that you can't resolve and it is getting uncomfortable, please contact Markwood immediately and inform them of the situation.
Don't ignore it, or hope it will go away. Don't try taking the law into your own hands either.
Chances are if you are having a repeated problem with a particular tenant, others have had it too. You are not alone, you have an ally, and if we work together, we can make this building a not just a good place, but a great place to live.

Use the Back Door

With several new tenants moving in recently, it has come to Markwood's attention that people predominantly use the front door when loading and unloading their furniture. This is a problem.
The main issue is the stairs themselves. The back stairs are metal, whereas the front stairs are stone. Although stone looks beautiful, it is soft and prone to wear and chipping, as you can see by the large chunks missing from the treads in the picture above.
Lugging couches, appliances and other heavy objects up the front stairs potentially damages the stairs.

The other issue in using the front door for freight, is that it blocks the main access point for building residents. The front door is not only the main access point it is the only access point if you don't have your keys. If you are blocking that entry because you are hauling a piece of furniture up the front steps, that is a problem.

We don't have a freight elevator, but the back stairs are essentially our "freight stairs"and should be used as such. The front stairs may seem more attractive for hauling things, as it is a straight shot up the steps from the street, however both front and back steps are the same width, and unless you live on the first floor, both have 90° angles that must be negotiated.
Trash and recyclables should also be  taken out the back door.

Owners, when you speak to your tenants about moving in, or out of the building, please remind them to use the back stairway. Thank you.

New Carpeting!

New carpet and molding is scheduled to be installed sometime in early November. The new carpet color is "Horizon" and will be installed by Magarian Carpet of Salem.
This may mean some noise and disruption during the day as there will be workmen going in and out of the building, removing old carpet and installing the new. Items such as welcome matts and shoes will need to be removed before the work starts.

October Parking

Well it's October again, and if you have lived at 24 Norman Street for more than a year, you will know what that means. It means lots of Halloween activities going on for the entire month, lots and lots of tourists, and a corresponding lack of available parking spaces.
Markwood would like to remind everyone that, tempting as it is, to not use the side lot for your own personal, long-term parking area. This is a constant issue throughout the year that gets much worse through the month of October and especially on Halloween, when we get upwards of 40,000 visitors to the city.
Occasionally it is not only residents of 24 Norman Street who abuse the side parking lot.
In the past we have had tourists who think it is a free, open parking lot for their convenience. Towing has been the usual deterrent, but since the streets are so crowded, and the towing company is so busy, that remedy may not be an effective deterrent. For this reason Markwood will be chaining off the parking area for the Halloween weekend. We will keep you posted on the details of when this is happening. If you have any questions please contact Markwood Management at 781-639-4080.