Street Parking Changes

In preparation for the annual onslaught of Halloween tourism, Saturday morning the Salem DPW painted several new designated areas on both Holyoke and Norman streets that may greatly impact parking availability both during the month of October, and going forward into winter.
Although the only officially-designated place residents of 24 Norman Street are allowed to park is Riley Plaza, (with our hang tags) many tenants frequently park in the unmetered spaces along Norman Street, directly in front of our building or the shopping plaza next door, or on nearby Holyoke Street.  We recently lost a potential space to a badly-placed handicapped parking space in front of the building. Saturday we lost another one, the space directly in front of that space by the ramp, or "driveway" on the market side of the building. (see photo below)

We are also potentially losing all of our parking on the Verizon building side of Holyoke Street. The Salem DPW painted in two large spaces for tour buses to park on Holyoke.

Although tour buses and Verizon trucks have parked there in the past, this may indicate that a new, officially-posted "Tour Buses Only" area may be enforced with ticketing, or towing. Weather this will be only during the month of October, or permanently, remains to be seen.
There was no notification from the city to Markwood Management that any of these changes were taking place.
With the new Merchant hotel leasing parking space in Riley Plaza, two new hotels scheduled to open within the year (one on Essex Street, one on Washington Street) and the city seemingly favoring merchants and tourists over residents, parking scarcity is once again becoming critical issue. 

For now, just be aware of these changes and be careful to look for any new signs or posted regulations. We will post any new information we receive here on the blog.

Warning About New "Handicapped" Parking Space

Residents at 24 Norman Street may have noticed a new handicapped parking space sign in front of the building. Markwood management is not sure why the city, in all of it's infinite wisdom, has decided to place this sign here. In the two months, not one single vehicle with either a handicapped license plate, or tag, has been observed parking there, however please be advised, the city has been issuing tickets to non-handicapped vehicles parked in and near this space. The enforcement seems random, and arbitrary, and also, the space is not clearly designated on the pavement, so there is some question weather the space is supposed to be the one in front of the sign (closest to the market), or directly adjacent to it. We're not sure that the parking enforcement officer knows either, but several people have received tickets while parked in both spaces, including at least one resident of 24 Norman Street. It seems to be at the whim of the officer, but since the tickets are in the $90 range, we advise caution parking there until Markwood gets a definitive answer from the city.