The Select Board met on Aug. 31 to review a parking study conducted by Select Board member Matt Taylor. The presentation’s first slide compared parking revenue generated in Arlington vs. Belmont, and Taylor highlighted the opportunity to increase parking revenue.
Belmont’s fiscal year 2025 parking revenue was reported at $149,000 vs. Arlington’s fiscal 2027 projected parking revenue at $643,000. The presentation and discussion encompassed many areas of parking management, one pertaining to Belmont Center meters starting at 7 a.m. vs. 8 a.m., rationalized to be more “business-friendly.”
It was stated that businesses who open before 8 a.m. (dentists, orthodontists, etc.) expressed a need to address the challenge of patrons who visit before meters start and run the risk of a ticket because they arrive before 7 a.m. and return after meters start. Taylor recommended starting meters earlier because patrons could not feed meters before the start time.
I phoned the parking station company, T2 Solutions, and provided the serial number of a parking kiosk in front of Bruegger’s. I was told that the equipment and software that Belmont has can already support advance pay, which would solve this problem without advancing the meter start to 7 a.m. So why are we investing time, money, and talk to advance the start of meters when the advance pay functionality exists, and we haven’t fully worked out how it will work or what it will cost? I corresponded with the Select Board regarding this and commented on it at the Aug. 28 meeting to no avail.
This is an example of making decisions without all the information and of our board’s unwillingness to reverse a decision. The town will sticker over all parking signs vs. holding the 8 a.m. policy and reprogramming the equipment. Belmont will now be one of few towns with meters starting at 7 a.m.
Norma Massarotti, Bay State Road
