Lynn officials pursuing plan for parking problems

LYNN – Parking downtown is a crapshoot with undefined signs and enforcement patterns known only to those who live and work there on a daily basis but residents, business owners and city officials are trying to make a change.”We’re looking for the actual hours of enforcement to be put on the signs,” said local activist and downtown resident Seth Albaum. “We that live downtown know the hours of enforcement but outsiders don’t and that’s not fair.”The Traffic Commission met Tuesday with the idea it would be moving forward with a plan to add specific dates and times on parking signs specifically on Andrew, Oxford, Munroe and Liberty streets. The signs vary from one-hour parking to two-hour parking and in one instance on Oxford Street, 15-minute parking.Police Chief Kevin Coppinger, chairman of the Traffic Commission, said he thought everyone was on board with the plan to add “from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Sunday” to the existing signage but it turns out no one was on board.”I appreciate the effort,” Albaum said.Albaum said he and others who attended the meeting thought the initial motion was worded differently than the one proposed Tuesday, which is why no one supported it. Coppinger said it’s time to take a step back and look at the situation from all angles. Ward 5 Councilor Dianna Chakoutis said she has offered to host a community meeting with residents, business owners, the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, the Latino Business Association, the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation and any other parties interested in hashing out the parking issue plaguing downtown.”I hope to do it sooner rather than later,” she said. “I plan to start making calls (Thursday).”Albaum called the fact that the posted parking signs contain no specific enforcement information a situation unique to the downtown area. It gives the presumption that the parking restrictions are enforced 24/7, which means residents wouldn’t be allowed to park overnight and anyone coming downtown for a show at the auditorium could be in jeopardy of getting a ticket. If that were true, there would be no downtown, Albaum added.Albaum said when he first considered moving downtown he called City Hall twice and the police station once to try and get a straight answer on the parking situation and instead received three, all different. Realtors also have difficulty describing the parking to potential clients, he said, “So resolving this information is worthwhile.”The Downtown Neighborhood Association has also been working with the Off Street Parking Commission trying to win permission for residents to park in the lots overnight, Albaum noted. That won’t resolve the entire parking issue but it would alleviate things if residents had options, he said.Chakoutis said she doesn’t expect any plan will please everyone but she is hoping that a neighborhood meeting will lead to something workable.”I think at the end of the meeting they will have a plan that they can present to the commission that is more finished, with more specific recommendations that everyone is on board with,” Coppinger said. “I think that is the goal now.”