Following a public hearing last week, the Greenville Select Board banned overnight parking on Main Street.
The public hearing was to allow changes to the town’s parking ordinance, and the amendments added a provision to prohibit overnight parking on Main Street, as well as removing a section from the winter parking ban.
The overnight ban prohibits parking on Main Street from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The removed section allowed the police department to authorize parking in restricted zones on Main Street during the winter months, which allowed some residents to park in the restricted zone, in front of their own residence, if they notified the police department of the make, model and license plate of the vehicle and did not leave the vehicle parked for more than three days in a row.
Town Administrator Tara Sousa said she is not aware of any resident of Main Street ever requesting a waiver to the winter parking ban, and the Select Board attempted to investigate all residences on the street to ensure they had private parking available.
The previous ordinance already banned parking on Main Street for more than 48 hours consecutively, but Sousa said that was more difficult to track than an overnight ban with set hours.
“The goal is to make parking regularly available to businesses, and to make sure that people aren’t parking and leaving vehicles for extended periods of time,” Sousa said.
The Select Board has scheduled a meeting with Police Chief James McTague to discuss starting to enforce the new ordinance, which was effective as soon as the board agreed to adopt the changes. New signage outlining the parking rules will be added to Main Street.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.