City Councilor At-Large Michael Flaherty visited the North End / Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC) at their February 23, 2015 meeting. Flaherty covered a broad agenda in a half-hour, captured in the video above per the summarized timeline noted below.
(00:00) With snow and parking on everyone’s mind, Flaherty talked about snow removal in the city. He also defended space savers saying that “a sense of ownership” comes when someone clears a parking spot.
(02:00) With respect to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Flaherty is working with Councilor LaMattina so that when a hearing gets deferred, abutters will be formally notified again by the petitioner. This policy would ensure that deferrals are not used as a tool to avoid neighborhood input.
(05:30) Flaherty is trying to put new guidelines in place to crack down on fraudulent handicap parking permits. He described situations where able bodied individuals are using such permits, taking up spaces for the truly disabled. The Councilor also supports having handicap permit users subject to parking meter fees. He noted that in downtown Boston, many suburban handicap permit users park for the full day at metered or limited time spaces. The Boston Transportation Department estimates that $3.5 million is lost through fraudulent disabled parking permits, according to Flaherty.
(08:45) The Councilor has sponsored a home rule petition to allow retired police officers to work construction details.
(10:10) Flaherty took a few informal polls to gauge feedback on city efforts toward snow removal and pursuing the 2024 Olympics. He also asked about how the council felt about changes in Faneuil Hall vendors.
(16:20) General discussion between Councilor Flaherty, NEWNC and meeting attendees continued the debate about parking issues in the neighborhood.
