Latest Update on Holyoke Street

New signs have been installed on Holyoke Street. The entire eastern (Verizon building) side of the street has been turned into tour bus parking. This effectively restricts our parking there to evenings after 6:00 PM until 8:59 AM the following morning. Markwood has been in touch with Ward 7 Councilor Steve Dibble , and Ward 2 Councilor Heather Famico (our ward councilor). For now this is 7 days a week, and there is no indication that it will be only seasonal, (May-November). Be aware that this will mean ticketing and towing if you park there anytime between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
If you have issues with this decision, please write and express your displeasure to Heather at hfamico@Salem.com 
 If there is any interest in starting a petition, please contact the author of this blog or Markwood Management.

UPDATE: PARKING MEETING TONIGHT!

There will be a meeting of the Salem City Council tonight, Thursday, September 29, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the Council Chamber at 93 Washington Street to discuss a new parking arrangement for Holyoke Street.
This meeting is about turning parking spaces on Holyoke Street into tour bus parking spaces.
This means we could potentially lose all of the parking spaces on Holyoke.

The council will also be deciding weather to change this:
"ORDINANCE to amend traffic, chapter 42 Sec, 11: Bus Stops, by deleting Holyoke Square, Bus Stops on the easterly side in a northerly direction, beginning twenty feet from Gedney Street and extending eighty feet. Tour bus parking two hour limit."

and replace it with this:

Holyoke Street, Bus Stops, on the easterly side in a northerly direction, beginning 20 feet from Gedney St. and extending 160 feet. Tour Bus parking Two Hour limit.

Ward Councillor Famico has moved to adopt the first passage. Which means we would keep at least some of the spaces.

If you care about parking on Holyoke Street at all, please consider attending this meeting, or if you cannot make the meeting please call your city councillors. Their phone numbers are on the Salem.com website. Or e-mail them at citycouncilors@salem.com.

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.

April 22 – April 25, 2014 - ENTRANCE CORRIDOR SWEEPING

This year's street sweeping schedule is below. The proposed dates are from April 22 through April 25, 2014. The sweeping will take place between 5:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M.

Please remember to REMOVE YOUR VEHICLES FROM THE ODD SIDE OF THE STREET so they will not be ticketed and/or towed.

For more information regarding street sweeping, please contact the Department of Public Services at  978-744-3302.

PLEASE NOTE: Certain weather conditions preclude the use of street sweepers: During moderate to heavy rainfall or extreme cold temperatures, sweepers will not be able to operate. Please check  WWW.SALEM.COM for weather-related cancellations.

Parking Pass Notice

 


































ATTENTION 24 Norman Street owners and tenants. The City of Salem is issuing new parking passes to the 24 Norman Street Condominiums.  Your new pass and detailed instructions will be mailed to you on Monday.

The attached notice will be posted on the bulletin board in the mail box lobby.

It is important to note that the current pass must be used until December 31st and the new pass must be used starting January 1st.

Important Parking Information for Norman Street Residents

The Salem parking office is being inundated with frustrated Norman Street residents and their parking tickets. Here is the official statement on the parking changes:

Parking placards, 1 per Unit, currently issued to 24 Norman Street residents and paid for by the Association are good for parking in RILEY PLAZA ONLY.
New parking permits will be issued to the Association in January 2013  and will be sent by Markwood Management to each homeowner.  These new permits will be valid for RILEY PLAZA ONLY.
Parking passes that permit parking on Norman Street and surrounding areas are available from the parking office in the PEM garage WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.  These permits cost $25/month/pass.  They are NOT available through the Association.
The tickets that are being issued for parking on Norman St. ARE NOT FORGIVABLE!  Residents should pay the fines within the 21 days required or penalties will apply!

BACKGROUND:
The 24 Norman Street Condominium Association is obligated, per the Master Deed and an easement granted by the city, to purchase 1 permit per Unit for parking in Riley Plaza.
In the past, parking on Norman Street was unrestricted.  Anyone could park there pass or no pass.
The recently revised parking regulations for downtown Salem have resulted in parking restrictions being placed on Norman St.

Markwood Management will issue a document that is more succinct and post it in the building, as well as send the information to owners via email and letter for those tenants Markwood does not have email addresses for.  We appreciate that this has been confusing, but in fact there has been no change to the Condominium parking permits, the change has been to the status of Norman Street parking.

City Launches New Parking Website

Riley Plaza will be one parking location where rates and rules will change.

The City of Salem has posted new pages on its website focused on changes to the parking system.

Quite simply, their stated goal is to have parking work better for you.

For the past three years the City has been involved in a comprehensive program to study, develop, and implement a dynamic, new parking system to serve the diverse needs of people parking in the downtown area.

Throughout the process, the city listened to input from residents, employers, employees, customers, and visitors about the parking system. They heard about a lot of issues. They also heard a lot of suggestions. Some suggestions conflicted with each other. After all, parking is very personal, and each person has his own feeling about how much he is willing to pay and how far he is willing to walk.

They did their best to listen to the different ideas and balance the needs of the different user groups—residents, employees, customers. Salem thinks the system being rolled out will improve parking for most people. They know it won’t be perfect, and there will be further tweaks needed once all of the changes are implemented. They will have an intensive 90-day evaluation period to see where the system is operating as desired, and where changes are needed.

The website explains the changes that will be implemented in the coming weeks and the parking options people will have. Changes to the system include a new rate structure, discount monthly passes, and new enforcement hours and fines.

Visit www.salem.com and click on the “Parking in Salem” logo, or go directly to the website by clicking here:

 Please submit your comments to parking@salem.com.

CITY INSTALLING CONVENIENT SMART PARKING METERS

The City of Salem continues to move forward with making parking more convenient. As part of the City of Salem’s initiative to make enhancements to the downtown parking system, the City has just installed 50 smart meters. Smart meters add the convenience of paying by credit card while allowing people to still pay with coins.

Mayor Kimberley Driscoll stated, “After an intensive study and engagement process, last year the City Council approved changes to the downtown parking system. During that approval process, we heard from residents, customers, and shop owners who said they’d like to have more convenient payment options. As we move forward with implementing the system changes, we’re pleased to be able to test out these smart meters.”

“It is great to see the City responding to people’s request for easy to use, updated meters in the downtown. The new meters allow people to use their credit cards to pay, which is much more convenient than searching for change. Since only a few are being installed at various locations, people can test out the meters and give the City valuable feedback as to whether this should be implemented throughout the downtown,” states Jennifer Bell, Salem Main Streets Manager.

Richard Viscay, who chairs the City Parking Implementation Team, noted, “There are different types of parking technology available. We wanted to test the smart meters out before committing to them on a long-term basis.”

Viscay continued, “The goal of last year’s Council action is to create better balance in the parking system. The outcome we’re striving toward is to have one parking space open per block. That’s the sweet spot for on-street parking. As we work toward that outcome, we also want to respond to people’s desire to have convenient payment options.”

Viscay added, “We’ll be moving forward with implementing the rest of the changes later this spring. People told us they wanted more pricing options, and that’s what we’re providing.”

Changes that will be implemented later this spring include a new rate structure. Hourly rates in the parking lots and garages will be lower than the hourly rates for meters on the adjacent streets. In addition, lower demand areas, such as the South River area, will be priced less than higher demand areas, such as the northern end of downtown. For example, hourly rates in the garages will drop from $1.50 to $0.25 in the Waterfront Garage and from $1.50 to $0.75 in the Downtown Garage.

In addition to the new rate structure, the City will offer a $25 monthly pass in several new on-street monthly zones. Viscay noted, “These low cost monthly passes are a great deal. We hope people who currently feed meters will see they can save hundreds of dollars a year by getting one of these passes. They’ll be able to save enough to buy an airplane ticket to someplace warm and sunny—and not have to worry about getting a ticket.”

The smart meters will be evaluated for 90 days. During that period, City personnel will evaluate the functionality and reliability. Personnel will also interview users about their experiences. The public is encouraged to submit comments to the Parking Department by sending an e-mail to parking@salem.com or calling 978 745-8120.

Street Parking Enforcement

If you own a car and live at 24 Norman Street you may have noticed that parking enforcement on Norman and Holyoke streets has become more stringent in recent weeks. The sight of tickets stuck on the windshields of an entire line of cars is now becoming more frequent. Many of these are on the cars of non-Salem residents, but I have seen plenty on cars with Norman Street parking tags as well. After having received only one ticket in the entire 31/2 years that we have lived here, we have suddenly been "blessed" with 3 in one month. There was a time that you could park your car on Holyoke or Norman street and feel relatively secure that you would not get a ticket as long as your parking tag was visible.

This no longer seems to be the case. Salem also seem to be ticketing on Saturdays during the day. Although parking tickets are usually only an issue during the hours of 8am to 6pm, Monday-Friday, uneven enforcement and the general murkiness of our parking agreement with the City of Salem has made that less certain. It might be prudent to be extra cautious, especially as we draw closer to October and the usual Halloween press of tourists. Parking seems to be a perennial issue in Salem, and problematic for Norman Street residents in particular.

The opening of several new restaurants near us, the imminent opening of the new courthouse, the start of construction of a new garage at the MBTA station, and the hiring of outside "parking consultants" by the city, promise to make this an issue that will get worse over the next few years. Since parking tickets generate revenue for the city, there isn't a lot of incentive for them to play nice.

Remember that the plastic parking tags Norman Street residents are issued, that we pay for in our condo fees, are only good for the Riley Plaza lot across from the post office. That is the only area we are "officially" allowed to park without fear of ticketing (at least we have some legal recourse if we are ticketed there).

With on-street parking hard to find, you might be tempted to risk long-term parking in the dumpster-side lot of the building, but that's not recommended either as your vehicle will eventually get towed. Better a $15 dollar ticket than a $100+ towing fee.

In general, just be aware that ticketing is on the rise. Be careful out there!