Citywide winter parking ban begins Dec. 1

posted on: 11/22/2016; updated: 11/27/2016

Deputy City Manager and Community Services Director Doug Steele and Police Chief Anthony F. Colarusso, Jr. announce that the winter parking ban will begin citywide Dec. 1, 2016, and conclude April 1, 2017.

The ban requires that no vehicle be parked on any city street or sidewalk between the hours of 1 and 6 a.m., and is not limited to nights with snow in the forecast. Vehicles may park in city controlled parking lots and the garage during this time without the need for a parking permit, however, the daytime rules of each particular parking lot needs to be adhered to.

“Keeping parked vehicles off the roads during the winter months is critical to giving Public Works crews proper access,” Colarusso said.

All City parking lots have specific areas where overnight parking is allowed during the winter months. Drivers should look for signs in the lots indicating which rows are available. There is no overnight parking in any public parking spaces in the Orchard Street parking lot. Overnight parking is available in the parking garage.

Vehicles found in violation of the winter parking ban will be issued a $15 parking ticket. Vehicles interfering with snow removal may be towed.

The city will also enact an emergency parking ban for the downtown area, when needed, to facilitate snow removal. The emergency parking ban will be announced by 3 p.m. each evening and take effect at 1 a.m. the following morning. When the emergency parking ban is in effect, any car parked on a downtown street will be towed. Notification of the emergency parking ban will be conducted through local media, the City of Dover website, cable channel 22 and Dover Download.

Downtown restaurants, bars and other late night business are encouraged to sign up for an e-mail notification of an emergency parking ban by contacting the Parking Bureau at parking@dover.nh.gov or by calling 516-2277.

“Late-night workers leaving their cars along the road until the early morning hours had been a major problem for years,” Steele said. “Use of the emergency parking ban for the past few winters when we had repeated heavy snowstorms really paid off.”

Streets included in the emergency parking ban area are: Chestnut Street; Main Street; Chapel Street; School Street; First Street; Second Street; Locust Street from Washington to Silver Street; Washington Street from Belknap to River Street; Central Avenue from Sixth Street to Silver Street; Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth streets
(Central to Chestnut); Henry Law Avenue from Central Avenue to George Street; Broadway from Central Avenue to St. John Street; Hale Street; St. Thomas Street from Central to Locust Street; Locust Street from Hale Street to Washington Street.

For more information on the winter parking ban or the emergency parking ban can contact the Parking Bureau at 516-2277.