Councillor McKenna requests permit parking on Haddon Street

  Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna has requested that Haddon Street be changed to 24/7 permit parking for the street’s residents, but the city’s parking clerk said he is afraid the move could dilute Revere’s overall permit parking program. During last week’s Traffic and Parking Commission meeting, the commission voted to table the request to give more time to study the issue.

  “A couple of years ago, we got Victoria Street to residential parking, and it’s made a world of difference because they only had one-side parking down there,” said McKenna. “It’s the same thing with Haddon; Haddon only has one-sided (overnight) parking, and what happens is that people from Winthrop Avenue and all the other streets are parking on Haddon Street, so what happens is that they don’t have parking.”

  McKenna said it would relieve some of the pressure for Haddon Street residents if it went from overnight to 24/7 parking by permit. But Parking Director Zachary Babo said the original intent of 24/7 permit parking was to limit it to areas near MBTA stops.

  “I totally understand the councillor’s concerns and sympathize with the residents of the area; we just have to be careful we don’t keep going and changing it street by street to where we get closer to having full, citywide 24-hour permit parking,” said Babo. “Going forward, if we continue to change, we’re going to dilute this program and cause difficulties enforcing and monitoring the rules and regulations.”

  McKenna noted that the permit parking program has already become diluted with the addition of 24-hour permit parking in sections of the Point of Pines and Riverside. “To deny this is not right, but we have opened up a can of worms because Point of Pines has resident parking and they are not near a T station; they are near a bus station, but not a T station,” said McKenna.

  The councillor said she is not certain where the additional parked cars are coming from on Haddon Street, but she said she has heard that some people do park on the street early in the morning and then use a nearby MBTA station. “There is a T stop after Victoria, and after 6 a.m., anyone can park there if they go to find a spot, and they can park there until 11 or 12 at night,” McKenna said.

  Police Chief David Callahan recommended the commission table the matter so it could take a closer look at what is causing the parking issues on the street.