Town of Arlington logo

The Council on Aging (CoA) plans to kick off a two-year pilot program Thursday, Sept. 7, providing certain aspects of parking relief to Arlington residents ages 65 and over.

The parking sticker will allow local senior citizens to park for free on streets near the Community Center, in the Russell Common and Railroad Street public parking lots, and at meters on streets nearby, officials say.

"Parking has always been a big topic of conversation here at the Community Center," said CoA Executive Director Kristine Shah. "We hope that this program eases the burden of cost and allows seniors to stay in the [Community Center] building for longer periods of time to attend programs and services."

The Arlington Select Board approved this two-year pilot to offer parking relief for Arlington seniors at its June 26 meeting. The pilot was proposed by Shah and supported by more than 100 senior citizens who attended the meeting.

Residents can apply for stickers either online or in person, as per the following detailed protocols:

Apply any time online using Google/Gmail

You must have a Google/Gmail account to apply through this link, or you can create a new Google/Gmail account. If you apply online through this form, your sticker will be mailed to you after Thursday, Sept. 7. As part of the application process, you must upload a digital photo or scanned copy of your vehicle registration and your photo ID, both showing your current Arlington address.The website is here: https://tinyurl.com/coaparking  

Apply in person during scheduled hours/days

CoA staff will be available for in-person applicants, but only on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Arlington Community Center, 27 Maple St., in the ground-floor yoga room. "If you come in person outside of these hours, you will be asked to come back during the designated time. We do expect there to be lines and lots of people coming in person, but we will not run out of stickers and there is no rush to come on the first day," the announcement said.

To apply in person, you must bring and show two items:

  • A copy of your vehicle's registration showing your Arlington address
  • A photo ID showing your Arlington address

 

senior parking permit

The CoA parking sticker provides the following benefits:

  • The sticker entitles the sticker holder to park in the Russell Common and Railroad Street lots for free at any time the meters are in effect.
  • The sticker also entitles the sticker holder to park in any metered space on Massachusetts Avenue, Broadway, Alton Street, Medford Street, Court Street or at the Robbins Library (single meters and/or the lot) for free for up to 4 hours.
  • The sticker entitles the sticker holder to park along Maple Street or Academy Street while in the Community Center for CoA programming or appointments. The 4-hour maximum time limit on Academy Street will not be enforced.
Additional rules and requirements
  • This program has been approved for Arlington residents aged 65 and over.
  • A maximum of one sticker per address will be given. Sticker privileges on one vehicle are for only for the use of the sticker holder and their spouse/partner who lives at the same address.
  • The sticker never allows for overnight parking.
  • Stickers must be placed on the rear window of the vehicle, on the lower left-hand corner. Any other placement of the sticker will not be honored.
  • Stickers must be permanently adhered to one vehicle and must never be shared with any other vehicles.
  • The sticker does not provide extended time limits (over 4 hours) for street parking on any other streets except Maple Street and Academy Street.
  • If you sell or give your car away, you are responsible for removing the sticker from the vehicle and returning it to the CoA office before that happens.
  • Vehicles must be parked in a legal parking spot. Vehicles parked by hydrants or in bus stops, no parking zones or commercial vehicle loading zones (during active hours), etc. will be ticketed -- so check for any signage before you leave your vehicle.
June 28, 2023: 2 parking measures, override election, restaurant all get thumbs-up at Select Board 

This news anouncement was published Sunday, Sept. 3, 2023, based on information provided by Kristine Shah, CoA executive director. YourArlington volunteer Kim Haase prepared it for publication.