I-Team: Revere Residents Plan Protest Over New Parking Meters
REVERE (CBS) - Organizers are putting up fliers for a protest against metered parking on Revere Beach. Wayne Rose is one of them, telling the I-Team, "It's not fair to Revere we have been through enough and now they slid meters in. I think it's horrible. I think it was very underhanded."
DCR made the decision to put in metered parking during the pandemic when Revere was struggling with one of highest infection rates in the state.
Homeowners along the boulevard say the meter kiosks were a complete surprise to them and they are not happy about it.
Nick Rusterica tells WBZ, "I pay over $9000 a year in taxes and I'm not even going to be able to park in front of my house? and what happens when I have people over the house, guests? Do I have to run out and feed the meter for them?"
There are more than 50,000 residents in Revere, many of whom have English as a second language and some don't have internet access. DCR notified 2000 constituents and local media about the parking meter proposal and held two virtual meetings – both in English with no translation. There were 115 people who logged on.
In a statement, DCR Press Secretary Olivia Dorrance said:
"Following a robust public outreach effort, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has begun Phase One of the agency's curbside parking meter project at multiple state properties including Revere Beach Boulevard, Cambridge Parkway and Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Charlesgate East, Park Drive and the Fenway in Boston in an effort to continue to provide state park visitors with a high level of services, recreational opportunities, and a first class state park system. Revere Beach Boulevard was chosen for its accessibility by public transit and length of the beach and DCR continues to evaluate locations for future phases in addition to the over 50 municipalities across the state that currently have meters and paid parking."
Residents now say they will take to the streets Saturday morning in protest demanding the meter kiosks be removed.
"I am going to go. I could understand if there were no houses along the beach," Nick Rusterica said. "Like me a lot of these people would like to park in front of their own house. And you can't do it now without paying a dollar and a quarter an hour."
Wayne Rose says many folks in Revere can't afford the $1.25 an hour. Telling the I-Team, "I think the governor he should, he's the one that helped put them in he should get them out of here," Rose said. "It's not fair to the people, we've been through enough here."
The city of Revere does not get any of the money from the metered parking. All of it goes to DCR. And there is no resident parking program for Revere Beach.
As for the dumpsters that DCR put in the emergency vehicle no parking areas on the beach next to pedestrian walkways, after our story aired Tuesday, DCR now says it will remove them.