I am sitting in front of my $3,000 half-year tax bill – sure to increase dramatically after revaluation. And I am looking out the window at my street, half plowed after last night’s storm, with a narrow travel lane down the middle. I had to shovel my way from my driveway to the plowed path in order to get my car out.

I sent emails before the storm to the mayor and my councilor pleading for a parking ban, but it didn’t happen and they never responded. You have to slalom around the snow berms plows left next to cars parked overnight, and there is only one travel lane in many streets.

I took my cellphone out on a camera safari early this morning to see how other neighborhoods fared. It’s pretty obvious that the current parking policy serves off-peninsula neighborhoods well – zoning has provided room for off-street parking and snow storage, and roads are mostly plowed to the curb. The peninsula is a mess.

This will get worse during the day as private plows push snow from driveways into the street and onto the sidewalks.

The city has called a parking ban for tonight, but I have already paid my plow man to clear my driveway. Tomorrow I will face a frozen barrier at the end, and I will have to pay again to get it removed. Even after we push our snow where it should go, my neighborhood’s sidewalks will be full of snow where buildings have insufficient setbacks.

I am still hoping to hear from my councilor and mayor, and to see a resolution to this problem. It won’t be any better after the new tax bill arrives.

Nini McManamy

Portland

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