Charlie Breitrose Snow started early Tuesday and will get much heavier during the day.
The overnight parking ban may be reduced by more than a month if the City Council approves a proposal for a temporary modification to the Winter Parking Ban on Tuesday night.
The proposal will be discussed on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. in City Hall and on Zoom. City Council President Mark Sideris gave a preview of the changes during the Nov. 12 Council meeting.
“Our typical winter parking ban starts the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving and runs through March 15,” Sideris said. “I had some discussions with the Manager (George Proakis) on trying to shorten that from potentially Dec. 15 to March 1. But then, we always give a certain period of time at Christmas time to remove it, and then this particular year those kids in school are going to have two full weeks off. So what I’m going to be putting on the agenda is a temporary modification of the Winter Parking Ban to start on January 1 and end on March 1.”
The change came after a petition was submitted to the Council in January asking to permanently remove the winter overnight parking ban. Residents packed the Council Chamber for the hearing.
“We all listened to a lot of people last winter about the Winter Parking Ban. So I’ve had several conversations with the City Manager about this issue, and would like to bring for consideration a temporary modification just for this winter season, because the manager is trying to finish up a parking study,” Sideris said.
The parking study will not be finished in time for this winter, Sideris said, but he wanted to provide some relief. With no overnight parking ban, if a snow storm hits the City wants to make sure that people remove their vehicles to allow plows to clear snow and ice.
“We’re going to be discussing modification to the fines for snow emergency situations. If we have a snow emergency, particularly in this period, even if it’s December 15 and we have a snow storm, we can call a snow emergency,” Sideris said. “But our parking fines are minimalistic, and nobody seems to want to worry about the fine. So they leave their car and we plow around them. So another consideration that we’re going to be having is increasing the fine.”
Getting word out to residents will be key to the system of calling a Snow Emergency and having vehicles moved off the roads. Sideris said the City will encourage people sign up to receive notifications from the City, including about a snow emergency. (Sign up for WatertownALERT here)
Also on the agenda for the meeting will be a budget amendment to increase revenues to support a second ambulance, school funding, restoration of unspent Opioid Funds for Human Services, and transferring the Veterans Services Officer salary to the Human Services Department.
There will be a first reading for the proposed Skip the Stuff Waste Reduction Ordinance.
The City Manager will also present an item on the qualifications and qualities for the Assistant City Manager for Community Development and Planning.
See the meeting agenda here.
Surely it has come to the notice of many of the winter parking ban lobbyists that sidewalks are essential to the transportation infrastructure. Year-round walkable sidewalks deserve Watertown city government’s highest priority. Snowy and icy sidewalks are a dangerous challenge to elders and all car-free pedestrians. Most municipalities hold property owners responsible for clearing sidewalks abutting their property, yet Watertown sidewalks often remain impassable days after a storm, forcing pedestrians to risk being splashed or injured by walking in the streets even as roadways are cleared to bare pavement. It is time for the city to acknowledge that pedestrians are not second-class citizens by establishing a norm for snow and ice clearance through fines and a city social awareness campaign that makes uncleared sidewalks and curb cuts unacceptable. A social awareness campaign should include making municipal and private plow drivers aware of the needs of pedestrians so they are proficient in techniques that aid clearance of sidewalks, curb cuts, crosswalks, and pedestrian crossing islands. A city social awareness campaign should emphasize that sidewalks next to an owner’s property must be cleared at least 3 to 4 feet wide to bare pavement, enough for a person using a wheelchair, walker, or pushing a stroller. In addition, owners should clear corner properties on all sides and access to to ramps at crosswalks. What is more, owners should clear snow to the curb so that collection crews can access trash barrels and recycling bins. Keeping street drains clear of snow prevents ponding/icing at the bottom of curb cuts so that pedestrians don’t have to wade through ankle-deep ponds at crosswalks. Enforced snow and ice removal is the pedestrian safety right thing to do.
Let your councilors know how you feel about this potential change by emailing them, calling, or attending the meeting on Tuesday.
See my open letter to readers from September 25th:
https://www.watertownmanews.com/2025/09/25/letter-snow-season-is-around-the-corner-get-to-know-the-new-snow-ordinance/
I think the ordinance goes too far, but I think you’ll approve. The City Council saw it your way, and the whole of it takes effect this winter. Fines and all. We have been warned.
Perfectly fine with fine changes but I think we need to allow for flexibility in timing because it doesn’t always snow in November, December, even January. February, per an AI scan of records, is the outlier, and February is a mere 28 days. Flexibility can be supported by a solid communication plan. Public safety can take a page from the city clerk and election commission. They did an excellent job advertising the election. Copy it for 2026! Let’s take their template and advertise signing up for the alert system, and then tweak as more information comes in such as studies. I really appreciate that the city manager, city councilor president and public safety servants took the time to make an attempt to balance different population needs. The give and take is most welcome, and if people don’t sign up for alerts, then I am fine with the city throwing snow on cars. I agree with the first writer about sidewalk snow removal which has always been an ordinance, and I cant puzzle out the logic there. It is not ok to delay an ambulance with snow in the street, but it is ok for a person to slip and fall on an unshoveled sidewalk and get a concussion or slide into the street with traffic? Growing up here, I have never not known that the ordinance wasn’t enforced. And again I would ask for flexibility there for the elderly and disabled because no one should die of a heart attack shoveling or be fined because of a physical impairment. Ordinances are made up things and as such they can be changed. Can you imagine many of the blue laws being in effect today? No drinking on Sundays? Sober football games? No Sunday blues drinking? No holiday drinking? Who is willing to die on that hill?