ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Peabody is poised to increase parking meter rates from a quarter to a dollar an hour to reduce ticketing and fines.
BY ADAM SWIFT
PEABODY – You can’t get much for a quarter these days.
One of the things you can get for 25 cents is an hour of parking in downtown Peabody, but even that may soon end.
Officials are examining a plan that would peg the parking rate at $1 per hour and increase fines for everything from handicap parking to fire lane violations. The city hasn’t raised fees and fines for nearly 25 years, according to Karen Sawyer Conard, director of Community Development.
“The low meter rates and low fines encourage people to take up a Main Street parking space all day,” she said. “This can also frustrate customers searching for a parking space.”
The department teamed with police, library, and chamber of commerce staff to devise a solution to those downtown parking issues.
In addition to raising the parking fees, the number of meters in downtown Peabody would more than double to 189, up from 85.
Adding the new meters and raising the hourly rate would generate nearly $300,000 annually, Conard said. Peabody’s 85 meters collected $33,000 in fiscal year 2015.
Other highlights of the proposal include switching to electronic meters and converting to pay-and-display parking stations at municipal parking lots.
“The electronic meters are a great idea,” said Councilor David Gravel. “It’s a good way for us But not everyone is embracing all of the changes.
“I think parking downtown should be free,” said Councilor Anne Manning-Martin.
Still, Manning-Martin said she would like to see higher fines for handicap parking and other violations.
“They should be whacked to the highest extent they can,” she said.
The proposal calls for an increase in handicap parking violations to $200 from $150, for fire lane and hydrant violations to $50 from $15
“I think anything in the way of safety should be at the maximum,” said Councilor Michael Garabedian.
Police Captain Scott Richards said the department will consider the maximum fines for those violations. Once he does that, the parking proposal will go back to the community development department before being brought to the City Council for approval.
There’s no immediate need to raise the fees. Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr. suspended the meter fees through the summer as the Peabody Square traffic project continues.
