Gardner City committee considers shortening winter parking ban after spike in tows

The Gardner City Public Safety Committee on Aug. 28 reviewed a traffic commission communication showing more vehicles are being towed under the city’s Code Red winter-parking system and discussed a proposal to shorten the seasonal parking ban and rely on storm-triggered notifications outside the core winter months.

Committee members and public-safety staff said the increase in tows and attendant enforcement work is stretching police and Department of Public Works resources and delaying road clearing during storms. “When the first snowstorm hits of the year … we towed in upwards of close to 60 cars,” Deputy Chief (title on record: Deputy Chief, name not specified) told the committee, saying officers and DPW are spending extra hours contacting owners and redoing plow routes.

Traffic commission members recommended a hybrid model that would shorten the set winter-ban window and use Code Red notifications for storms outside that period. The…