Infrastructure committee asks staff to refine downtown residential parking pilot

The Nashua Committee on Infrastructure voted Sept. 23 to ask city staff to continue refining a proposed residential overnight parking pilot for a downtown neighborhood and to return with a detailed cost and permit proposal.

Parking manager Jill Stanfield told the committee the program is intended as a test: "our department is committed and um very supportive of moving this forward," she said, stressing the pilot will be developed with input from police, fire and public works. Consultant Andy Hill laid out the analysis staff has completed so far, tracing a program history that began as a 2013 pilot and noting the current citywide overnight program issues.

Hill said field inventory in the proposed pilot footprint found about 128 residential units supported by 460 off‑street parking spaces, producing a present shortfall of roughly 42 spaces; adding a nearby proposed redevelopment (referred to in the presentation as "property possible") would create a larger gap because the development provides about 1.1 spaces per unit while observed market behavior suggests demand nearer 1.5 spaces per unit. "Once you add that to the 42 that we already had, you now have potentially 167 vehicles competing for 152 spaces," Hill said, explaining the need for a managed permit approach.

The committee did not adopt legislation but approved a motion recommending staff carry on with the pilot design, including detailed engineering checks (hydrant setbacks, turning radii), a public forum and a petition process, and return with a cost breakdown and recommended permit fee for committee review.