Parking Enforcement in Tisbury Is Major Year-Round Business

By ALEXIS TONTI

After chipping away for years at traffic problems in Vineyard Haven,
the Tisbury selectmen are now considering an overhaul of the
town's parking regulations in order to relieve congestion in the
downtown area.

"Traffic flow and parking go hand in hand. With a better
parking system, traffic flow will improve," Tisbury police chief
Theodore (Ted) Saulnier said this week.

The parking plan proposed by the police chief takes a comprehensive
look at the downtown and assesses each of the lots and neighborhood
parking areas. It goes on to recommend changes to signage and parking
restrictions - most significant being the elimination of the
four-hour spaces on most of the roads off Main street.

Chief Saulnier said those spots are frequently abused by people
taking the ferry off-Island.

"Everyone wants to park as close as they can to the Steamship
Authority all year-round, whenever they travel. I have overheard
conversations on the ferry about how people will skirt the parking
regulations in those four-hour spots and laughing about it," he
said. "The town could do a lot more in helping itself by changing
those spaces to two hours."

The pressures on the town from Steamship Authority traffic are only
one part of the problem, according to the chief. The town's status
as the Island's most vital year-round community also draws people
into the downtown area throughout the year.

Mr. Saulnier's proposed plan is just the latest in an ongoing
effort by town officials to ease the problem that residents named as one
of the most critical issues faced by the town in a planning board survey
conducted two years ago.

And looking at revenue coming into the town from parking fines,
it's clear the problem hasn't slackened since then: in
fiscal year 2004, Tisbury collected nearly $125,000 in parking ticket
revenue - more than all of the other Island towns combined.

The town was not always so vigilant.

Over three years, from FY 2000 through FY 2002, the three
down-Island towns were all in the same ballpark when it came to ticket
revenue - averaging $57,630 in Edgartown, $48,702 in Oak Bluffs
and $59,577 in Vineyard Haven.

But in FY 2003, revenue to the town of Tisbury suddenly doubled to
$118,307. Edgartown and Oak Bluffs remained fairly static, at $52,709
and $43,906.

The same went for FY 2004. Edgartown collected $50,256 and Oak
Bluffs $44,083 to Tisbury's $124,625.

The reasons for the differences among towns vary.

Part of it stems from the fact that, unlike the other down-Island
towns, Tisbury does not have a two-tiered system of enforcement.
Edgartown, for example, adjusts its enforcement policies depending on
the time of the year, relaxing its rules after the crush of summer has
passed.

But Chief Saulnier said a similar system wouldn't work for
Vineyard Haven because of its year-round parking pressures. "There
is no off-season with us. We are sometimes as jammed in January and
February as we are in August," he said.

Chief Saulnier also said the change in revenue likely was due to a
policy change he implemented after being named to the department's
top post several years ago.

"I saw a shortfall in terms of the parking collection program,
so we put into place some procedures and policies for ensuring the fines
were sought. You can put tickets on car windows all you want, but if you
don't collect then the whole system is ineffective," he
said.

He added that some businesses go so far as to treat the tickets as a
business expense, sometimes paying thousands of dollars a year.

Other elements of the parking proposal include:

* Changing the parking restrictions on the side roads off Main
street from four-hour limits to two-hour limits.

* Raising the maximum allowable parking fine to $25.

* Eliminating parking signs throughout the downtown area by
posting "gateway signs" at several key points of entry to
the town, advising motorists that parking is for two hours only unless
otherwise posted.

* Promoting the Park and Ride.

The Park and Ride - the satellite lot off upper State Road
with shuttle service to downtown - has been around for a decade
but still hasn't caught on with many Island residents. But town
officials still believe it can help alleviate congestion and parking
problems.

To boost interest, free seven-day parking and a free shuttle to meet
the SSA ferries were added last year. Ridership has increased since
then, but the service is still underutilized.

"We are trying to have the public enjoy free parking.
It's a great service that the town has spent a million-plus to
provide for the Island - for the whole Island," said
selectman Ray LaPorte.

"We can't have done more for trying to relieve the
neighborhoods of excess parking and to accommodate the business
community short of building a parking garage of some kind," Mr.
LaPorte said.

Selectman Tristan Israel also said the community needs to use the
Park and Ride lot and public transportation system more.

Mr. Israel added that changes in parking policy are part of the
broader discussion about community policing. "We need to strike a
balance. We have to enforce our regulations, but we also want our
community to be a friendly one," he said.