THE EVERETT ADVOCATE–Friday, November 15, 2019 Page 17 Integral Arts Everett hosts art celebration Integral Arts Everett concluded its scavenger hunt art exhibition with a celebration at the Village Bar & Grill on Thursday evening. To wrap up the first Everett Community Art Walk, attendees had the opportunity to see the artwork on display in the bar and meet the artists. OP-ED | FROM PAGE 16 Integral Arts Everett Founder Karyn Alzayer thanked artists and attendees for partaking in the first Everett Community Art Walk this year. Integral Arts Everett Founder Karyn Alzayer spoke to a large crowd about the importance of art in the community. A crowd gathered at the Village Bar & Grill to meet and greet local artists. eliminating green space or opportunities for local businesses and creation of local jobs. And yet our current zoning requires far more parking to be constructed than we actually use. Though our zoning requires two spaces per residential unit, a recent Metropolitan Area Planning Council study found that, on average, fewer than 0.8 spaces per unit are actually used. That same study also found that the biggest predictor of parking utilization was the availability of parking itself. In other words, the more parking you build, the more cars that will come. We must acknowledge that one of the biggest contributors to traffic congestion is the over-construction of parking. We must also acknowledge that existing parking requirements are currently the biggest obstacle to creating affordable housing, revitalizing our downtown districts, and providing a clean and healthy environment for all of our residents. To address this, my administration is undertaking a three pronged approach to revise our parking policies as well as provide better mobility options in its place. This winter we will be proposing a new parking ordinance that better reflects our needs and goals for the City. This will be guided by a Transportation Demand Management Ordinance that will allow and encourage developers to reduce, in some cases to zero, the number of parking spaces they are required to construct. In exchange, they will be required to join a Transportation Management Association that assists them with providing other mobility options. Depending on the size and scope of the development, or its proximity to transit, they may be required to offer discounted MBTA passes, a bike share station, car sharing spaces or, in some cases, joining with other developers to operate a shuttle bus to nearby destinations or T stations. At the same time, our new parking policies will aim to protect our existing neighborhoods by reducing or eliminating the availability of on-street parking permits to new developments, ensuring that parking on local streets is preserved for those who have come to depend on it. I am proud that in Everett we are placing people and quality of life over cars and easy parking. We are prioritizing the ability to create affordable housing and a clean environment for our most vulnerable residents, and we are choosing to be a world class city, rather than a second class suburb.
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