Danvers Will Give Second Trial Year to Emergency Snow Ban

There won’t be any snow in the forecast for months yet, but Danvers town officials have already made the decision to spend another winter on a trial basis using the new emergency parking ban that was instituted Jan. 1 of this year.

The departure from the traditional ban, which dates back 40 years, now allows residents to park their cars on the street overnight between December and April, except in cases of a bad snowstorm. The Board of Selectmen voted to try out the new system last December.

“I’d like to get another year under our belts to see how it works,” said Selectman Dan Bennett at a recent board meeting, following a positive review of the program by Public Works Director David Lane.

Lane said there were no problems to report and there was not one tow in five parking bans this past winter. He added that some parking tickets may have been issued, but he didn’t have numbers available at the time.

Violators of the new ban face a $15 ticket plus the cost of towing and storage if the vehicle is towed.

“Change is always hard and everybody worked hard to make it work and it did,” Lane told selectmen, commending both town departments for their efforts and the public for being responsive to clear the streets when needed.

He said he also wasn’t aware of any complaints, but rather only questions about how the new parking ban worked. Whenever a ban was called, the town relied on local news reports, roadside message boards, automated public alerts and social media updates to spread the word.

Unlike its more urban neighbors, which now all have emergency bans rather than winter-long parking restrictions, Danvers does not have blue lights installed around town to signal when a ban is in effect.

Lane said one thing his department did learn was the need to get the message boards flashing as soon as possible for a ban and try to make the call by 5 p.m. to give residents plenty of time to move their cars.

For this winter, the temporary ban will continue to be in effect only between the hours of 1 and 6 a.m., although the ban may last for multiple days. The specific timeframe is also a significant difference to snow bans in Peabody, Salem and Beverly, which do not limit bans to overnight hours.

Lane said in the event of another bad blizzard, he does have authority to ban all on-street parking indefinitely; the regular snow ban doesn’t need to address those situations.

Lane noted that if someone needs to make a quick run to a store, such as CVS, during the storm, they can park on the street for up to an hour without fear of a tow.

If the selectmen do ultimately decide to make the change permanent, they would have to modify some town regulations under Traffic Rules and Orders.