The parking situation on Holyoke Street took a twist two weeks ago when new signs were installed on both the east and west sides of the street. The new signs by the Holyoke Insurance building (Common Ground Enterprises) were changed to seemingly restrict after-hours parking. However, according to Ward Councilor Arthur Sargent;
"The parking spaces on Norman St and Holyoke Sq that are beside Common Ground Enterprises should only be reserved for them during the day (8:00 am to 5:30 pm) Monday thru Friday."
Arthur copied Markwood on emails he received from Lt. Preczewski of the police dept and Matt Smith from the parking dept which confirmed this. They worked with Common Ground Enterprises to correct the signs to properly reflect The City Ordnance. So you can park on the Holyoke Building side (west side) of the street between 6:00 pm and 7:30 am on weekdays, and all day on Saturday and Sunday without any problems.
The signs on the Verizon building (east side) were changed to allow 2 hour parking on Holyoke.
The apparent compromise on the bus parking area initially looked promising, but was actually calculated to divide the small-business signers from the residential participants in the petition.
There is currently a petition drive with almost 2,000 signatures to modify or eliminate the tour bus parking. By allowing temporary parking the city appears to be addressing the issue that was driving businesses on Gedney Street to oppose tour bus parking–loss of business due to the lack of convenient available parking in the area.
This change is only temporary, and ignores resident parking needs as it does not allow for weekend parking. Again, according to Ward Councilor Arthur Sargent;
"The temporary parking where the Bus Spaces are is from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Although this theoretically means that you can park there between 6:00 pm and 7:30 am on weekdays, and all day on Saturday and Sunday, (as that is in line with the city-wide parking ordinance), since this is not reflected on the signage, you do so at your own risk.
Markwood will keep you posted on any further developments.
