Mayor, fire and law department urge caution over regulating on-street parking on private ways; council sends draft back to committee

WALTHAM, Mass. — Councilors returned a proposed amendment to Chapter 17 of the general ordinances, which would permit the traffic commission to regulate on-street parking on private ways for the limited purpose of ensuring access for fire apparatus, back to Ordinance & Rules after hearing warnings from the mayor, the city solicitor and public safety officials.

Why it matters: The proposal responds to constituent complaints and traffic-commission requests about vehicles parked on both sides of narrow private streets, which, petitioners say, can hinder emergency access. Councilors sought a public airing of liability questions and practical enforcement before endorsing any citywide power over private ways.

City Solicitor Katie Lachman explained the limited legal question that prompted the draft: whether state law allows municipalities to regulate parking on private ways specifically to ensure means of access for fire apparatus. Lachman said the state statute provides municipalities that authority but that the power must be exercised through a municipal ordinance. The law department drafted proposed language to add to section 17-85 to permit traffic-commission parking regulations with the stated public-safety purpose.

Mayor Jeanette McCarthy urged caution. “I do not think that we should be getting in the business of exercising control over private ways,” she told the council, noting litigation risk and the difference between public and private ownership. The mayor recommended outreach — letters from department chiefs to residents and targeted signage on nearby public approaches — rather than seeking broad enforcement powers over private property.

Fire officials and the traffic commission described narrow-street incidents where parked cars interfered with apparatus movement. Fire Chief testimony noted that modern fires spread faster and that timely access matters; Chief Mullins’ office (recorded in the hearing) said traffic-commission work had identified narrow streets citywide and that the commission had already recommended one-sided parking restrictions in many cases.

Councilors pressed practical questions about enforcement, signage and the risk of shifting parking burdens onto neighbors. Several Ward councilors said letter-based outreach and signage on public approaches had resolved similar problems in the past; others said private-way parking persisted and petitioners had asked the council for clearer authority to address access problems.

Outcome: After extended discussion including the mayor, the city solicitor, the fire chief and the traffic engineer, Councilor Kathy Ann Harris moved and the council voted to recommit the draft ordinance to Ordinance & Rules for further work. The motion passed on the floor and Ordinance & Rules will continue drafting and seek a fuller record and recommended safeguards before returning language to the full council.

Practical clarifications from the hearing: • The law department advised that the statute’s authority is narrow: to regulate private-way parking for the limited purpose of ensuring fire-apparatus access; that ordinance must be carefully drafted. • The mayor emphasized alternatives including letters from chiefs to private-way residents, signs on adjacent public approaches, and use of existing emergency powers when apparatus access is impeded. • The council noted the complexity of private ways: ownership, easements, overnight parking practices, and whether towing or direct enforcement is legally and practically feasible.

Next steps: Ordinance & Rules will redraft the proposal with input from the law department, the fire and police departments, the traffic engineer and the mayor’s office. The full council asked that department heads continue to pursue outreach and that committee work consider liability protections and implementation mechanisms before any ordinance is advanced.

Ending note: Councilors said the hearing exposed the limits of responding to constituent email requests with a single narrow ordinance; they asked for a more comprehensive, interdepartmental approach.