Council Defeats Proposal For Alternate-Side Parking

The Ordinance Committee of the Cambridge City Council yesterday defeated Councilor Al Vellucci's proposal to institute a 30-day trial period of alternate-side overnight parking on local streets.

Mayor Edward M. Sullivan, however, appointed a three-man committee to study the parking problem with Traffic Captain Edward F. Tierney and to make recommendations for its solution. Councilors Vellucci, Charles A. Watson, and Joseph A. DeGuglielmo '29 were named to this group.

Four Votes to Two

Vellucci's proposed ordinance failed to get the two-thirds majority necessary to pass a city ordinance. The vote was four in favor, two opposed, and two abstentions.

Edward M. Abramson '57, president of the Student Council, had intended to testify before the committee meeting yesterday, but decided against it because "the discussion was not on the topic I expected."

He said that he would appear before the study committee instead. Vellucci reported that he would decide today when this group would hold its first meeting.

Vellucci had proposed that cars be permitted to park overnight on alternating sides of Cambridge streets 40 feet or wider. The present regulations prohibit overnight parking on all city streets.

Captain Tierney supported the plan and felt that it would cut down illegal parking "if we can get good publicity on it." He estimated that there are now about 12,000 cars parked on the streets each night and admitted that his department can only tow away about 20 per night.

Dunphy Agrees

Joseph Dunphy, Commissioner of Public Works, also agreed with Vellucci's proposal, claiming that it would facilitate snow removal and street cleaning by keeping one side of each street clear of cars during the night.

Mayor Sullivan, however, attacked the scheme on the grounds that car-owners would violate the alternate-side regulations just as they violate the present over-night parking restrictions. Vellucci's plan, he said, "would only take the cars out of the garages and parking lots and throw them onto the streets."

Councilor DeGuglielmo emphasized that the most critical danger of crowded streets was the inability of fire engines to get through in an emergency. The proposed measure would not solve this problem, he argued.