No pay-and-display parking for Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT – Selectmen will not pursue a plan to install parking kiosks on Humphrey Street this year, citing uncertainty of the kiosks’ effect on the town.At the board’s meeting Monday night, Selectmen cited a lack of data on how “pay-and-display” parking would effect residents, the street’s businesses and town revenue.”I just think we don’t have any data to base this on,” Selectman Barry Greenfield said. “I’m not saying I’m against the idea. I’m just saying that I don’t have the data to make the decision.”Officials have discussed installing parking meters along Humphrey Street and at the Swampscott Train Station for several years, with a prior board of selectmen even approving a plan to install meters at the latter location. But that plan was never implemented. The board revisited the issue in August, focusing particularly on a $330,000 plan to installing 30 kiosks to monitor approximately 224 parking spaces on Humphrey Street between the Lynn border and the Swampscott Fish House. Supporters argued that the plan would provide revenue to the town and also improve the turnover and availability of spaces by discouraging long-term parking on the street.But several business owners and residents favored enforcement of current restrictions rather than meters at a public hearing Aug. 16. With the deadline for requests for capital expenditures approaching, Parking Clerk and Town Accountant Dave Castellarin asked selectmen Monday night whether they wanted to pursue a plan to purchase and install the kiosks.Read Wednesday’s Daily Item for full coverage of the story.