Salem Considers Sunday Parking Fees

SALEM, MA — Mayor Kim Driscoll's proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 would expand parking enforcement to include Sunday afternoons.

City Council is set to begin deliberating the budget when it meets Thursday. While in a typical year Massachusetts towns and cities would have already approved their budgets, the coronavirus crisis has forced them to rework the spending blueprints and wait for guidance on how much state aide they can expect. In Salem, officials are trying to close a $8.4 million budget gap.

The parking proposal would raise a modest $270,000 to $330,000 in a $172.6 million budget, but Driscoll said it would have the added benefit of helping downtown business owners by turning over parking spots more frequently. In the current system, someone can park at a downtown meter in front of a restaurant or store at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, pay for the maximum four-hour time, and then not move their car again until 8:00 a.m. on Monday.

"This effectively takes that space offline for customers of that small business for most of the weekend, when these spaces are most needed," Driscoll wrote in the cover letter of her budget proposal. "As our small business community struggles to rebuild and reopen during this economic crisis, this is one action that we can take as a City to help them keep their businesses accessible and open to customers. Moreover, as a tourist community, many visitors come to Salem on weekends and the parking fees collected will help us with paying for much needed city services."

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).