Swampscott puts Humphrey Street parking kiosks plan on hold

SWAMPSCOTT – Selectmen will not pursue a plan to install parking kiosks on Humphrey Street this year, citing a lack of data on how “pay-and-display” parking would affect residents, the street’s businesses and town revenue.”I just think we don’t have any data to base this on,” said Selectman Barry Greenfield at the board’s Monday night meeting. “I’m not saying I’m against the idea. I’m just saying that I don’t have the data to make the decision.”Town officials have discussed installing parking meters for several years, with a prior Board of Selectmen even approving a plan to install meters at the Swampscott MBTA Commuter Rail Station. But that plan was never implemented. The board revisited the issue in August, focusing particularly on The Traffic Study Committee’s recommendation to spend $330,000 on installing 30 kiosks to monitor approximately 224 parking spaces on Humphrey Street between the Lynn border and the Swampscott Fish House. The committee believed that meters would generate approximately $250,000 annually and also improve the turnover and availability of spaces by discouraging long-term parking on the street.But several business owners and residents spoke against the idea in a public hearing on Aug. 16, favoring enforcement of current restrictions rather than meters to promote more availability of spaces. With the approaching deadline for requests for capital expenditures, Parking Clerk and Town Accountant Dave Castellarin asked selectmen Monday night whether they wanted to pursue a plan to install parking meters.But selectmen raised several concerns about the plan.Selectman Jill Sullivan wondered whether the parking meters would effectively be a tax on residents.Although Selectman David Van Dam urged exempting residents through a sticker, Sullivan wondered whether that would so reduce the expected revenue to make the project economically feasible. She also noted that raising the price of a recreation sticker – one method proposed to offset revenue lost by exempting residents – would still affect residents.”It all comes out of the same pocket,” she said.Van Dam, Sullivan and Town Administrator Andrew Maylor also disputed how many residents would be affected by the meters. Van Dam said he believed most of the parking spaces near Kings Beach are used by non-residents. But Sullivan said the spaces further from Kings Beach are mostly used by residents. Castellarin also rejected a suggestion to install kiosks on only one side of the street and allowing the first 15 minutes of parking for free.Maylor eventually recommended that the Traffic Study Committee continue to discuss the issue, as several selectmen urged that the plan not be abandoned.”The board has to decide what it is trying to accomplish,” Maylor said. “Is it revenue only, not only revenue but supporting businesses and (traffic) circulation ? We need to ask the Traffic Study Committee to find some way to capture information about data, circulation, who uses spaces.”Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].