The Boston City Council Committee on Government Operations on Sept. 26 heard public testimony and administration briefing on docket 1206, a proposed ordinance that would raise the fine for parking in resident-permit-only spaces in the North End during TD Garden events from $60 to $100 and add a $33 late penalty for unpaid violations after 21 days.

Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, district 1 and chair of the committee, opened the hearing and described the bill as aimed at protecting residents’ access to limited on-street parking in one of Boston’s most densely populated neighborhoods while encouraging transit use for large events. “The ordinance amends the City of Boston code to increase parking fines in the North End residential parking district during TD Garden events from $60 to a $100 per violation,” she said.

The measure drew sustained public comment from North End residents who described daily difficulty finding legal parking near their homes on event days. Dariel Meehan, a North End resident, said: “It is virtually impossible to find a place to park.” Resident Carrie Akashian said the neighborhood “has no more spots to lose” and described families who rely on cars for children’s activities. Longtime resident Darlene Romano said some visitors prefer to risk a $60 ticket rather than pay for garage parking, and urged higher fines: “$60 just doesn't cut it.”

Boston Transportation Department officials provided data and operational context. Deputy Chief for Transportation and BTD Commissioner Nick Gove told the committee that in 2024 the city received just over 60,000 3-1-1 reports for parking enforcement (the single largest case type), issued nearly 900,000 parking violations citywide and employed 153 parking enforcement officers and supervisors (a 31% increase from 2023). He said there are 3,481 active resident parking permits issued to North End residents and 236 issued to West End residents.

Gove described recent enforcement totals and how the ordinance would work in practice: “In 2024, we issued 4,364 violations in total in the North End. Over 2,700 of those, 64%, were for RPP-only violations,” he said. The proposed ordinance would designate TD Garden events to include professional sports games, concerts and other large-scale gatherings as determined by the transportation commissioner, with enforcement occurring two hours before and two hours after the event.

BTD recommended several technical changes should the council advance the ordinance: add the West End to the same fine and late-penalty schedule because of proximity and the limited number of West End RPP spaces; define “TD Garden events” as events within the TD Garden arena rather than all events on the complex unless an alternate venue exceeds 5,000 capacity; and pair any fine increase with supplemental enforcement staffing during events, modeled on the Fenway Park approach.

Officials noted Fenway as precedent: between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2024 the city issued about 37,000 $100 RPP violations in the Fenway area (with annual averages affected by pandemic years). For Fenway events, supplemental enforcement has been paid by the Fenway Sports Group; Gove said BTD has an existing traffic-management relationship with TD Garden and would be willing to discuss similar arrangements with that venue.

Operational and implementation issues discussed included signage and systems updates (no street sign changes required but back-office systems and handheld ticketing hardware would need updates), outreach and communications to deter nonresident parking, and staffing. Gove said the city piloted Sunday enforcement in 2024 and has been recruiting aggressively to fill parking-enforcement positions, with a hiring day and planned new classes this fall.

Committee members asked about revenue and costs. Officials did not provide a precise revenue figure during the hearing but said they could follow up with breakdowns by neighborhood, the number of supplemental officers deployed for Fenway events and costs per event. The administration estimated the Fenway fine increase has likely been more than revenue neutral but agreed to supply detailed revenue and staffing cost data.

No vote was taken at the Sept. 26 hearing. Councilors and BTD staff said they would work on ordinance language, consider an amendment to include the West End, and discuss operational memoranda with TD Garden on outreach and potential cost-sharing for supplemental enforcement. Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata said the committee expects to continue refining language and return the ordinance for a future vote.

Ending: The committee adjourned after the hearing; staff said they would circulate redlines to council members and follow up with the Department of Transportation for requested data and operational details.