NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Traffic Commission on Wednesday dismissed a request from a resident to change the winter parking ban, saying it would open up a "Pandora's box" of problems.

Aleksandr Lisser of Veazie Street had requested the City Council revise parking regulations banning night parking on the street from Nov. 1 to April 31 because his home did not have off-street parking. The matter was referred to the Traffic Commission for its Jan. 20 meeting. Lisser did not attend the meeting.

Commission Chairwoman MaryAnn King said she had received an email about the issue from Lisser last fall stating he had been "harassed" by police who had ticketed his car. King said the city would allow him to purchase an overnight parking permit for the St. Anthony Municipal Parking Lot but he did not wish to pay for parking.

Lisser had asked that residents be allowed to park partially on the sidewalk on the narrow street without being ticketed.

"Under current regulations they made it IMPOSSIBLE to have cars for residents without off-street parking at their properties," Lisser wrote in a letter to the City Council. "The City Council and Mayor of North Adams have been negligent to resolve this problem, even as many residents have been complaining about it multiple time [sic] over many years."

While the commissioners had some sympathy, they noted that Lisser had purchased a house knowing that parking was an issue. The prior owner had operated a livery for more than 40 years, said King, and had always managed to find spaces for his half-dozen vehicles.

"This situation presents itself all over the place and it has for a million years," said Commissioner David Sacco. "I feel his pain but he bought a house without off-street parking and he should have looked into it a little more. ...
 
 "It would be no different than buying a house in the West End and complaining there are planes flying over his head."

Commissioner Paul Markland, the city's highway foreman, said having parking even partially in a street would impede snowplowing — which would result in residents complaining their streets weren't being plowed properly. It could also impede access by emergency vehicles.

There was also the issue of keeping sidewalks clear for pedestrian and handicapped access. King said there is a bus stop at the bottom of the narrow street and as it is now, small children are forced to walk in the road or on snow banks because sidewalks aren't being cleared.

Parking cars on the sidewalks won't make it safer, she said. "We're just going to open Pandora's box."

Lisser had also raised the issue of city liability but King said she had met with the mayor and city solicitor, who affirmed that the city has no liability related to the lack of off-street parking. The mayor was recommending the Traffic Commission make no changes.

The commissioners voted on a motion by Sacco to file the matter and recommend back to the council that the regulations not be changed.

The commission also heard briefly from William Schrade of the North Adams Housing Authority who was seeking direction on dealing with parking scofflaws. Schrade provided photos showing vehicles parked on the green space between the sidewalks and the street at Greylock Valley. The housing development has 96 units, 117 parking spaces and only 45 vehicles — some of which aren't being parked properly.

Because he was not on the agenda, the commission took his information and scheduled a meeting for Feb. 8 to take up the matter.

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