Residents Question Multiple Parking Permits Issued

North End residents were not surprised when they found out that residents had more than one residential parking sticker for one vehicle.

They were under the impression that the system called for one sticker per vehicle good for two years. Reportedly, one resident had five stickers.

“It’s extremely difficult to find a residential space as it is,” one Charter Street resident told the Review. “So why does someone have five?”

Depending on who you talk to, there are 1,000 to 1,500 legal spaces in the community and reportedly about 4,000 stickers issued.

“Issues like this are not unusual for local residents. Several years ago forged tickets were being sold,” one resident noted.

Newly appointed Boston Transportation Department Commission Gina Fiandaca, who has overseen the city’s parking program for eight years, is looking into the issue, and her department is considering an array of measures to ease the long time parking program.

Some of the measures that will be considered include: limiting the number of permits per driver or address, charging for permits or shortening the length of time that permits are valid.

Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina, whose district includes the North End, believes the city should continue to give one free permit to each resident, but charge for additional permits to discourage people from parking extra cars on the street.

“There is no magic wand to cure parking shortage so severe that some people pay for a taxi, so they don’t have to move their car from prime spots,” he said.

            Some residents feel the city must do something to discourage people from abusing the system.