2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts › Chapter 40 - Powers and Duties of Cities and Towns › Section 22a - Parking Meters; Fees; Exemption From Fees for Disabled Veterans and Handicapped Persons; Bicycle Locking Devices; Motorcycle Parking; Restricted Parking Areas for Veterans and Handicapped Persons

Section 22A. Any city or town, for the purpose of enforcing its ordinances, by-laws and orders, rules and regulations relating to the parking of vehicles on ways within its control and subject to the provisions of section two of chapter eighty-five, may appropriate money for the acquisition, installation, maintenance and operation of parking meters, or by vote of the city council or of the town may authorize a board or officer to enter into agreement for such acquisition, installation or maintenance of parking meters; provided, that the city of Boston, for the purpose of enforcing the rules and regulations adopted by its traffic and parking commission, or promulgated by its commissioner of traffic and parking, under chapter two hundred and sixty-three of the acts of nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, may appropriate money for the acquisition, installation, maintenance and operation of parking meters, or, by vote of the city council of said city, subject to the provisions of its charter, may authorize the traffic and parking commission of said city to enter into agreements for the acquisition, installation or maintenance of parking meters. In any city or town that accepts this sentence, the agreement for the acquisition or installation of parking meters may provide that payments thereunder shall be made over a period not exceeding 5 years without appropriation, from fees received for the use of such parking meters notwithstanding section 53 of chapter 44. Such fees shall be established and charged at rates determined by the city or town. Rates may be set for the purpose of managing the parking supply. The revenue therefrom may be used for acquisition, installation, maintenance and operation of parking meters and other parking payment and enforcement technology, the regulation of parking, salaries of parking management personnel, improvements to the public realm, and transportation improvements, including, but not limited to, the operations of mass transit and facilities for biking and walking. No fee shall be exacted and no penalty shall be imposed for the parking of any vehicle owned and driven by a disabled veteran or by a handicapped person and bearing the distinctive number plates authorized by section two of chapter ninety, or for any vehicle transporting a handicapped person and displaying the special parking identification plate authorized by said section two of said chapter ninety or for any vehicle bearing the official identification of a handicapped person issued by any other state or any Canadian Province. Any city or town may, in accordance with the provisions of this section, acquire and operate coin-operated locking devices for bicycle parking. A city or town may, in accordance with the provisions of this section, authorize the parking of more than one motorcycle in a single parking space and may impose a penalty for the full amount of a violation of an ordinance, by-law, order, rule or regulation related to the parking of vehicles on ways within its control and subject to section 2 of chapter 85 for each motorcycle so parked in violation of any such ordinance, by-law, order, rule or regulation. No motorcycle shall be parked in such a manner so as to inhibit the means of egress of another motorcycle currently parked in the same parking space.
Any city or town acting under this section shall further regulate the parking of vehicles on ways within its said control by restricting certain areas thereon for the parking of any vehicle owned and driven by a disabled veteran or handicapped person whose vehicle bears the distinctive number plates authorized by section two of chapter ninety or for any vehicle transporting a handicapped person and displaying the special parking identification plate authorized by said section two of said chapter ninety, or for any vehicle bearing the official identification of a handicapped person issued by any other state, or any Canadian Province, or by prohibiting the parking or standing of any vehicles in such a manner as to obstruct any curb ramp designed for use by handicapped persons. Parking spaces designated as restricted under this paragraph shall be identified by the use of above-grade signs with white lettering against a blue background and shall bear the words ''Handicapped Parking: Special Plate Required. Unauthorized Vehicles May be Removed at Owner's Expense''. The spaces shall be as near as possible to a building entrance or walkway, shall be adjacent to curb ramps or other unobstructed methods permitting sidewalk access to a handicapped person and shall be at least 8 feet wide, not including the cross hatch access aisle as defined by the architectural access board established in section 13A of chapter 22. If parking spaces designated as restricted under this paragraph are made temporarily unavailable due to a construction project or other planned event, the city or town shall ensure that the nearest available nonreserved parking space, if any, shall be temporarily designated as restricted under this paragraph. The cost of acquisition, installation and maintenance and operation of any signs or other regulatory devices used to designate such restricted areas shall be considered as a necessary expense for the regulation of parking and shall be paid from appropriations authorized by this section. Any such ordinance, by-law, order, rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to this paragraph shall contain a penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $300 and shall provide for the removal of a vehicle in accordance with section 22D. This penalty shall not be a surchargeable offense under section 113B of chapter 175.
A city or town acting pursuant to this section with respect to ways within its control, or pursuant to the authority granted by chapter 40A with respect to zoning, may regulate the parking of vehicles by restricting certain areas or requiring that certain areas be restricted for the parking of a zero emission vehicle. An ordinance, by-law, order, rule or regulation pursuant to this paragraph may contain a penalty of not more than $50 and, in a city or town that has accepted section 22D, may provide for the removal of a vehicle pursuant to said section 22D. For the purposes of this section, ''zero emission vehicle'', shall mean a battery electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or a fuel cell vehicle.