NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday referred changes to the annual winter parking ban to the Public Services Committee and endorsed resolution supporting the state's prohibition of discrimination based on gender identity and expression.

 

The reducing the length of the parking ban is a proposal by Vice President Ashley Shade, who also put forward a number of changes to the Airport Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals ordinances. 

 

She is suggesting the parking ban not go into effect until the first snow emergency of the year and ends on April 1. 

 

It currently runs from Nov. 1 to April 15, although mayors have ended it earlier based on weather predictions. Last year, the city parking ban was lifted on April 6 and on April 1 the year before. 

 

"I know that the mayor does not support the changes, but I think it's really important for us to look at how our parking ban is instituted," she said at Tuesday's meeting. "Personally, I don't believe bans work. And I don't believe a ban should be in effect when the roads are clear."

 

Shade noted her proposal was not to eliminate the ban but to look at how its working considering how climate change has affected the weather. The mayor has issued warnings rather than enforcing the ban, but "it shouldn't be at the whims of the executive in office," she said. "People should have access to the streets they pay for as long as its safe to do so."

 

Councilor Keith Bona, chair of Public Services, thought it worth discussion but wasn't sure he could support it.

 

"Things like this have come up in the past," he said. "I know it's something the public is talking about it. I think the biggest concern is when you set a date for parking bans is it prepares residents to at least have a space ready."

 

Not giving residents a start date, means they may not have time to rent space or find space available, he said. He also noted it says the ban would run from the start of the first snow emergency — and then cited the historic Oct. 4 storm from 1987.

 

"The wording would need some adjusting," Bona said, but he was open to reducing the time in the spring. He's totally against Pittsfield's use of odd/even streets rather than a parking ban because of how narrow many of North Adams streets are. 

 

Councilor Andrew Fitch said he wanted to hear what the impact would be on public safety and public services. 

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said both the fire and police chief and the commissioner of public services are against the change. 

 

"We have tried very hard to work with people. Even when the ban is in effect for a snowstorm, we still try to call people and get people to move their cars before we even tow anyone," she said. "But it's not just about the snow. There are oftentimes in the middle of the night you get ice and we have to go sand."

 

She gave an example of people leaving their cars on one side of Front Street so when they moved their cars, the street wasn't sanded on that side and City Hall got complaints. 

 

"We put notices on people's cars for like three weeks, reminding them the parking ban is in effect, and we really didn't start enforcing it until our first storm was on the horizon," the mayor said. "So I understand your point about, you know, it's not really about me, it's about who's in the chair. But I don't think anyone who is in the chair would just make a whimsical decision on, oh, we're going to tow tonight just because we want to."

 

It also puts more pressure on the Police Department and dispatch to make unnecessary calls and makes it more difficult for the plow crews who are trying to work as efficiently as possible, she said. 

 

Councilor Lisa Blackmer pointed out the forecast can change pretty quickly and while she could see shifting to Nov. 15, she wasn't a fan of ending earlier, noting there was a snowstorm on April 4 last year. 

 

"We would have been fighting with everybody in the city to try and move their cars," she said. "I don't want to make it any more complicated, and like the mayor said, there's been years where we've gotten ice storm after ice storm after ice storm and didn't have any measurable snow until February."

 

The proposed ordinance was referred to Public Services with a return date of the first meeting in March 6-3, with President Bryan Sapienza and Councilors Peter Oleskiewicz and Wayne Wilkinson voting no. 

 

Fitch and Shade read into the minutes the resolution they wrote based on Massachusetts' anti-discrimination policy regarding gender identity, expression, sexual orientation, intersex status and HIV status.

 

The resolution was in response to an executive order by the president claiming to "defend women" and uphold the "biological reality of sex" by discontinuing the use of "gender," forcing agencies to "accurately report" someone's sex and recalling all guides, provisions and policies related to LGBTQI-plus.

 

"I hate that we have to bring this up right now. I'm a little emotional about it, but I'm glad that we took the time to go through the definitions that we accept here in Massachusetts, and not the contortion of definitions that were put forth in the executive order," said Fitch.

 

"It's really important that we are reaffirm that all human beings are human beings, no matter what an executive order tells them," said Shade. "I want to thank Councilor Fitch for working with me and helping put this together. And it's really important now that we confirm the validity of all people in our community."

 

Bona noted that resolutions are usually sent to the state to let lawmaker know how the city's stand on issues, but in this case it was an affirmation of what the state already has done. 

 

"I think what we need to do as a society is be respectful to each other," said Sapienza. 

 

There was no other discussion and the resolution passed 8-1 with Wilkinson voting no. 

 

"I don't like things shoved down my throat," he said, without further elaboration.