Thursday’s event at City Hall was a far cry from the tense, emotion-high fracas that went down at the Traffic Commission meeting two weeks ago. The stately Aldermanic chamber was likewise filled with concerned Somerville citizens, but this time, the city’s controversial May 21 vote was the agenda.

Listen to the public hearing (thanks to arbitor)

Peter Miller, the Chair of the Traffic Board, began by introducing the agenda, explaining that two petitions had been submitted to the city seeking to repeal parts of the May 21 Traffic Commission vote. He introduced the other members of the board, which is a specially convened appellate to the Commission, as Michael Buckley and Jerry Carvahlo. Also present were the Director of Traffic and Parking, Jim Kotzuba, Board of Alderman President Walter Pero, Alderman at Large Dennis Sullivan, Alderman at Large William White, Ward 1 Alderman William Roche, Ward 3 Alderman Tom Taylor, and Ward 7 Alderman Robert Trane.

The first of the two appeals, which seemed to be more-or-less identical and included some overlap in signatures, was quickly dismissed for having too-few signatures. The second, with the signatures of eighty-seven registered Somerville voters, was accepted. Then, the public hearings began.

What followed was an orderly, civil procession of concerned Somerville citizens, airing their grievances and complaints on the new parking regulations or announcing their support for the changes. Many who spoke, including Aldermen Taylor, White, and Sullivan, spoke mostly to address their disappointment and concern at the lack of notification given by the Traffic Commission before the vote took place. Alderman Taylor, who attempted to speak at the meeting two weeks ago, but was shut down, said that he was only notified of the vote an hour before it took place. Many agreed that, despite adhering to the notification regulations required by the city laws, not enough effort was made to make the public aware of it.

Overall, those that spoke declared their acceptance of the need to raise parking meter fees to the $1.00 per hour, several noting that Boston and Cambridge have already raised theirs. Courtney O’Keefe, representing Somerville Parking Advocacy and Reform Coalition (SPARC) spoke eloquently on what they see as the deep flaws in the new parking regulations and citing a lack in community process as part of the city’s failure to put together a cohesive, working plan. Specifically, SPARC’s concerns include serious disruptions and inconveniences to non-resident artists who rent studio space in Somerville, religious communities, businesses outside of the main commercial districts. She also expressed concern for the city’s plans to notify its residents and visitors of the new regulations, to which she was assured by Mr. Kotzuba that there were plans in place for extensive publication of the new rules. Additionally, the city intends to issue “warnings” rather than citations to alert residents and visitors when they are in violation of the new rules.

As other citizens continued to speak, either on their support of residential parking or against it, the mood in the room was serious but hopeful. Not only was the testimony proceeding with decorum, but the city officials present were answering questions and assuring those with concerns that the city was working hard to iron out the remaining issues.

But disagreement remained. While many residents continued to complain of out of town cars parked for days on end on non-permit streets and advocated for city-wide permit-only parking, others noted that an unwelcoming reputation founded on a strict parking policy would drive away business from neighboring communities. Overall, it was clear that there were still a number of issues to be dealt with before the city can reasonably put the new regulations into affect.

Despite the reigning inconclusiveness, Mr. Miller closed the public hearings and moved to address the appeal. Item by item, Mr. Miller, Mr. Buckley, and Mr. Carvahlo dismissed the four requests to appeal the Traffic Commissions actions. They upheld the meter hike, the extension of hours of operation of all parking meters to 8:00 PM (except in Davis and Magoun Squares, where they are extended to 10:00 PM), and most significantly, to make all of Somerville resident permit parking only. They ended the meeting with assurances that the Traffic Commission and the Parking Solutions Taskforce was continuing to look into the specific issues brought up by citizen concerns and would attempt to address them in upcoming Phase II and Phase III (in which they plan to implement more flexible and technologically advanced methods of paying meters and extending time limits, among other things).

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Following the meeting, I was privy to a conversation between Jim Kotzuba and Susan Axe-Bronk, a landlord in Somerville who expressed her concern that the new parking regulations would make it even more difficult for her to rent her property, especially if potential tenants received parking tickets when they came to view the apartment. While her concern was logical, and her suggested solution – to allow landlords to have their own visitor parking placards – reasonable, Mr. Kotzuba’s response was unfortunately, not helpful. In fact, when faced with a specific issue, as he had so often said he would be happy to take on, he was unwilling (or unable) to help Ms. Axe-Bronk find a workable solution, instead suggesting that she tell her potential tenants to try their luck and hope they don’t get ticketed. The Mr. Kotzuba that spoke with Ms. Axe-Bronk was a far cry from the accommodating man who had just assured the room that he would make every effort to help residents with remaining concerns.