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Residents report strong signature collection for paid‑parking petition and urge delay of rollout
Summary
A resident told the Select Board volunteers collected more than 600 signatures in one day toward a charter amendment to let voters decide on paid parking; the petitioner asked the board to consider postponing the program's implementation until voters can weigh in in November.
Alex Cohen of Wood Street told the Select Board volunteers at an election-day table collected "over 600 signatures" toward a petition seeking a charter amendment that would allow voters to decide whether Camden should have a paid parking program.
Cohen said the petition threshold is roughly 20% of voters in the last gubernatorial election — about 668 signatures by his calculation — and that the petitioners were close after one day of collecting at polling locations. He asked the board to consider postponing implementation of the expanded paid parking program for this season until voters have an opportunity to weigh in in November.
Holly reported that paid parking goes into effect Monday, June 22nd, and that as of the afternoon of the report, free resident parking permits had been issued to 802 residents for 1,157 vehicles; enforcement will scan license plates (not require sticker display). Cohen said he will submit signed petitions to the town clerk once the requisite number is reached.
The Select Board did not take immediate action to delay implementation during the meeting; staff follow-up and any formal timeline changes would be set by the town clerk and town staff according to charter and petition timelines.
The petition and the advisory-election results showing strong resident preference to maintain a full-service police department were both flagged by board members as items to consider as they move forward with parking enforcement and related policy discussions.
