News

Councilor seeks parking for handicapped residents

By Katie Farrell
Staff writer
Published: January 7, 2009

NEWBURYPORT — Citizens may soon be able to petition the city for a handicapped parking space in front of their house if a measure sponsored by Councilor Steve Hutcheson is accepted by the City Council.

Hutcheson, an at-large councilor, has spent the last several months working with the city's Disabilities Commission and public safety officials to draft a formal ordinance in response to two requests by citizens who want a handicapped parking space on their streets.

He filed a measure for Monday's City Council meeting that would allow the city to grant a citizen a handicapped residential parking space, provided they meet certain criteria.

The permit is only for citizens who are handicapped and do not have adequate off-street parking, such as a garage or driveway.

Applicants will need to fill out a form, supply a doctor's note and have a handicapped placard or license plate. Applicants must be confined to a wheelchair or have a severe physical disability. Permits would need to be renewed yearly.

A residential handicapped parking space would be granted only to individuals who have functional limitations that affect mobility for more than six months.

The city's Planning Department, the City Clerk and the Police Department would all review the applications and grant approval before it would be sent to the City Council for review and a vote.

Under the proposal, a space would be directly in front of the individual's house, or a very short distance away. Under Hutcheson's draft, no more than two handicapped spaces would be located on a block where parking is allowed on both sides of the street. No more than one space would be allowed on streets where parking is allowed only on one side.

Hutcheson said he wants to create a formal policy for the city after two citizens came forward and requested handicapped parking spaces in recent months. The spaces, on High Street and Essex Street, were granted by the City Council.

Tom Lyons, a member of the city's Disabilities Commission, said it's hard to tell how much demand there is in the city for the ordinance until it's in place.

"It's a really good thing," he said. "If you have a driveway, if you have a garage, that's great; if you don't, it's tough. It's really important to let people know they can have assistance."

Lyons said the ordinance will be "very, very helpful" for residents who use wheelchairs and don't have a regular place to park.

"It's just enormously difficult for them to get from a distance to their home," he said.

Hutcheson used similar ordinances in other cities as models and noted the space, once deemed handicapped, can be used by any handicapped individual.

"It's universal everywhere in the state, as far as I know, that any handicapped spot is for everyone handicapped and not for a particular person," Hutcheson said.

That fact is one reason why the city isn't charging a fee for the parking space, Hutcheson said, adding they don't want someone paying for a spot that any handicapped person can park in.

But Lyons said he would expect one's neighbors would respect an individual's need.

"Your neighbors aren't going to take your space," he said.

The City Council will likely vote Monday to send Hutcheson's proposal to subcommittees for review before it returns to the council for a vote on whether to approve it at an upcoming meeting.