>>Valley Patriot>> |
Erin Livingston
Hey, a couple of burgers could get mighty expensive around here if you miss a coin in your meter. Let’s start again. So, you want to live in downtown Haverhill? Yeah, it’s great…of course it is great…if you have a parking space. There is a crisis here, and it is not just for businesses, their employees and customers It is for residents as well. How did we
get here? We all circle the block to find a space now,
along with other residents along the street. Lets Now, add however many customers we hope will come and go and do the math. A parking garage is on the way, but where? Parking garages are necessary and have been planned in every previous administration. Who wants to walk and lug groceries and whatever else … all the way home to Essex, Washington or Wingate Street? Still want to live downtown? Of course you do! It is a diamond in the rough … when will it shine is the question. If you slip up in polishing the gem, you spoil it. So, let’s do this the right way … but what is the right way? I think it just takes some common sense and a gathering of minds with a passion for a vision whose objective honors the sum of all the parts … not just some of the parts.
Who is paying a meter to go to the salon for a pedicure or manicure … and will someone suffer lost business because the meter has to be fed? Who won’t go to the Bradford Post Office instead to drop a package or letter? C’mon, we’ve had meters before … and it cost the city money! Why cause conflict between residents, business owners, workers and consumers with meters and permit parking? The seven P’s of success should apply here: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Pitifully Poor Performance. Any construction person knows this … this is a construction job. Beginning construction without the final drawings is unhealthy … unless you are an artist … and not everybody gets that kind of art! The creative process is in play. The Parking Commission was formed and the voting members were to include residents. However, the present city council has changed the last administration’s rules to allow “workers or residents” to be voting members. If there are to be 500 proposed residents downtown, what of representation? There are presently NO voting members that are solely residents on the board. Is anyone aware of that and does anyone care? I stood up to the plate … but I did not agree with the meters in my formal meeting with the Mayor … I feel this was a foolish political move on my part … but I am an artist, not a politician. I can’t fake it. As a downtown resident, I do not want meters or permits and have spoken to business owners and residents who completely agree. All I want is fair representation. My reason for taking the time to write this is not to offend, condemn or to criticize the downtown Parking Commission under guidance of Mayor Fiorentini. Rather, it is a smoke signal to anyone out there with common sense, ability to think creatively and a desire to assist the Parking Commission and the mayor with a long term … repeat … long term approach to figure out this puzzle of where to park if you live/work/play in downtown Haverhill. A public meeting might be one way to seek out creative minds stoked with the ability to think holistically about this apparent conundrum. Perhaps some entity with a good chunk of change could see this as an opportunity to help the city and themselves out … seeing that they missed the opportunity on the Bradford College situation. It could go a long way for PR! Every city needs a hero and hey … offering it up now is in … isn’t it? Ask Oprah!
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So, you want to live in downtown Haverhill?
Call a cab! That is unless you want to circle the block a
few times before you find an open space to park. You
might hear a tune in the wind, whistling, “The
meters are coming, the meters are coming!” Are you
ready to feed it enough while you tan, or are getting
your nails done, or dropping off that letter at the post
office, lest you find that pretty orange rectangle on
your windshield? This is supposed to generate business
for Downtown Haverhill? 
look at the big picture. The big picture
has a past, a present and a future. The dilemma? Too many
vehicles, not enough spaces. Involved are past mayors,
councilors, developers, engineers, meters and wasted tax
dollars. Recent past shows a Parking Commission created
by former Mayor Rurak which leads us to the present
involvement of an assortment of members from the
community that are appointed by Mayor Fiorentini. They
dedicate a few hours each week, hashing over solutions to
the downtown parking dilemma: Too many vehicles and not
enough parking spaces. There are approximately 500
proposed future condos for downtown. Presently, there are
about 1,418 spaces including street, surface lot and
parking deck, about 1000 present residents, and over 100
businesses with an unknown number of employees. 
Will the new developers be profiting from
this city by the sale of future condos? Should they give
back something to this city? Can they support a parking
deck while they prosper from our old mill buildings? Or
do we have to suffer Band-Aid solutions in order to show
the state that we are in a crisis situation as a cry for
help? Listen, permits and parking meters are not my
favorite idea. I live and work on Washington Street and
have been circling the block like the rest of those who
frequent downtown. It is understandable that meters will
generate a turnover of spaces so that more shoppers,
diners, drinkers, visitors and the rest can park downtown
Haverhill. However, who is going to pay a meter to go
tanning when they can go to Bradford? 