Returning citizen’s parking petition fails at Town Meeting

A citizen’s parking petition was rejected at the Oct. 26 Town Meeting, which will keep current zoning bylaws as they are.

An amendment for further study was added during discussion, but the petition still failed 53-140 for not reaching a two-thirds majority.

The petition was amended for further study during discussion. It failed 71-83, and voters considered the original petition as submitted. It failed 140-53 for not reaching a two-thirds majority.

At the spring Town Meeting earlier this year, former Select Board Member Alan Slavin introduced a proposal that would allow restaurants on parts of Main Street and Onset Avenue to count nearby public parking spaces toward their required minimum parking.

The same proposal was up for consideration as a citizen’s petition at the Oct. 26 Town Meeting, which would allow businesses in designated areas to use parking spaces within three-eighths of a mile to meet zoning requirements.

The eligible areas in the petition were portions of Onset Village, Wareham Village and Narrows Road.

Current bylaws require businesses that cannot provide enough on-site parking to rely on nearby off-site lots. Those spaces must be within 350 feet of the building and not separated by a wide roadway.

Director of Planning Joshua Faherty said the Planning Board unanimously opposed the petition. He said it didn’t have sufficient data, and the town needed a comprehensive townwide parking strategy.  

“I do not want to continue the process that has been in place for a long time in town, where zoning bylaws are just put in without any reflection as to how they affect other bylaws,” said Select Board Chair Sarah Corbitt. “I think this would add to a very complex situation on Main Street.”

Select Board Member Judith Whiteside urged voters to vote against the petition. Many voters expressed disapproval, saying the bylaw changes weren’t fully thought out.

“Would you like to have new businesses come into your neighborhood and create a situation where your family and friends could not park anywhere near you? And now the parking is created for their use, not yours,” said Howard Smith. “Now you and your visitors have to walk a greater distance.”

Some supported the petition, saying it would give struggling businesses more customers and increase tax revenue for the town. Multiple voters said insufficient parking has never been an issue on Main Street, so allowing businesses to use nearby parking to meet zoning requirements wouldn’t cause issues for residents.