Lynn residents looking to city for side street parking relief

LYNN – Fed up with blocked driveways and potential fire hazards, residents of several side streets across the city are asking the city to ban people from surrounding neighborhoods from parking on their street.?It?s been a problem for a long time,” Beede Avenue resident Mary Greene told traffic commission members last week.Located between Henry and Beacon Hill avenues, Beede is a small Highlands side street with five homes and a parking problem that longtime resident Greene said has escalated into tire slashing.Greene said residents from surrounding streets park on Beede without consideration for Beede residents? parking needs.?Sometimes you come home with groceries and you can?t even get in your driveway,” she told commissioners.Commissioners Andrew Hall, Christopher Rowe and Police Sgt. Ned Shinnick (representing Chief Kevin Coppinger) voted to consider resident-only parking on Beede Avenue at the commission?s Nov. 18 meeting.The commission also received a letter from Fire Chief James McDonald warning about parking hazards on Aubrey Terrace, a dead-end street off of Lewis Street.McDonald said he measured Aubrey?s width and found it ranges from 11 to 15 feet – too narrow for fire trucks to drive down the street if vehicles are parked on it.?In my opinion, parking on the street is out of the question ? for public safety reasons,” McDonald wrote.Aubrey and Beede are among several side streets where parking is at a premium. Rust Street residents signed a petition restricting parking on their street to residents. Commissioners will review the request at their Nov. 18 meeting.Larchmont Street residents won commission approval for a residential parking restriction on their side street by Spring Pond and the Salem line. Commission clerk Mary Wright said Larchmont residents complained during the summer about visitors to the pond parking on Larchmont.Residents are divided over parking restrictions on tiny Mabel Street, wedged between Milton and President streets. Mark Maitland owns one of two homes on Mabel, and a residents-only restriction approved by the commission six months ago helps ensure parking for his family, but Ward 3 City Councilor Darren Cyr said residents living in multi-family buildings on Milton and President want to park on Mabel if they cannot find parking on their streets.Cyr submitted a petition with 40 residents? signatures to the commission seeking to eliminate resident-only parking on Mabel. The commission accepted the request for its files but declined to act on it.?The sign stays,” said Shinnick.