'It's Very Unfair': Revere Residents Say DCR Violated Parking Agreement
REVERE (CBS) - The Department of Conservation and Recreation, the state agency that owns Revere Beach, agreed to give residents free parking on the west side of the beach. Weeks later, the DCR installed a meter kiosk on the residents' side.
Residents say DCR didn't keep its word to the community after finding the parking meter kiosk on Revere Beach Boulevard at the corner of Revere Street. One man telling the I-Team, "I don't think it's right, it's deceiving," one man told the I-Team.
"It's very unfair," Rosa DeNapoli said.
In violation of its agreement, DCR took a half dozen parking spaces in an area that was promised to the people who live there. Revere City Councilor George Rotundo, told the I-Team, "They said that they would honor their agreement, and then they take six spaces from our citizens."
Putting metered parking on the oldest public beach in America sparked protests in April and an I-Team investigation into the equity of the program and the lack of community outreach.
After our reports, DCR backed down from its plan to install metered parking on both sides of the boulevard – and instead agreed to make to make an entire section of the beach – from Revere Street to Carey Circle, free for residents only.
"It's the first public beach in the country," DeNapoli said. "There shouldn't be any meters. It's a mess."
So why did DCR put in a meter kiosk where it said it wouldn't? DCR first told the I-Team the city agreed to give the state the six spaces on the residents' side. But the city said that seemed to be a mistake and within a week, the state removed the kiosk and the metered parking signs.
Rotundo says the way the state handled the issue was troubling. "The thing that troubled me the most was that they couldn't honor their own agreement," Rotundo said. "How do we trust them? How do we begin to have a better rapport with them if they can't honor six spaces?"
Metered parking runs from mid-April to October. The state could make millions from the program. But none of the money is earmarked to maintain Revere Beach.