The town council’s public safety committee will take a closer look at how it can address parking issues in Winthrop at a future meeting.
At the most recent meeting of the full council on June 30, four councilors submitted a motion asking that the town council suspend all new parking variances, whether currently pending or planned, until the Planning Board reviews and the Town Council votes to adopt a new parking ordinance.
Town Attorney James Cipolleta noted that the motion as submitted by the councilors is not legally viable, since the council cannot direct the issuance of variances by the zoning board of appeals.
“If you have an application in for a special permit, or a variance, or an order of conditions prior to the first date of legal advertising, you’ve solidified your position and are not subject to any changes that happened thereafter,” said Cipoletta. “Secondly, Chapter 40A says that only the ZBA can control variances. It also says that no municipality can make an ordinance or a bylaw that conflicts with Chapter 40A, Section 10.”
That section of the Massachusetts General Laws grants the authority to the board of appeals to grant variances.
“This motion does not have the strength of an ordinance, and even if it was an ordinance, it would be illegal.”
Council Vice President Suzanne Swope – who submitted the motion alongside Councilors Paul Reardon, Pat Costigan, and Joe Romano – said that she was looking for guidance from Cipolleta and the town on how it can address the congested parking issues in the town, even if it takes a different shape from the motion she and her fellow councilors submitted.
Swope said the board of appeals continues to grant a number of parking variances, adding that right now, there are many residents who can’t find a place to park even right in front of their houses.
“We need to find a way to figure this out, because this is a mess,” she said.
Cipolleta said the town council may be able to address the issue through a revised parking permit process.
“Your authority lies in creating and running a resident parking sticker program, that’s within your purview and it is under your discretion and your good judgement,” said Cipolleta. “You can tinker with the resident sticker parking program if you like, or you can have a committee do it; you have the authority to do that. Whether it is a good idea or not is a whole different debate.”
Swope said that was the basis of what she was trying to get to with the motion.
“I thought that that was a possibility, but if that’s not, that’s fine,” said Swope.
In terms of a resident parking program, Swope asked if the town could possibly look into limiting the number of permits it issues by residence. She said the process might take awhile, and that Winthrop should look at its options as it does a larger scale parking study for the town.