Boston Council Grills Officials on Contractor Parking Permits, Enforcement Gaps

BOSTON -- September 18, 2025, Boston's City Council examines contractor parking abuse as permit revenue nears $20 million. Councilor Sharon Durkan, chair of the Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, convened a September 18 hearing on Docket 0477, pressing Nick Gove, acting BTD commissioner, and Inspectional Services Commissioner Tanya Del Rio on why contractors who repeatedly exceed their permits face no barrier to obtaining new ones. Gove reported that occupancy permit revenue grew from roughly $5 million in 2016 to $19.8 million in fiscal year 2025, while the city issued nearly 26,000 occupancy permits in calendar year 2024. Public testimony from Ben Starr, chair of the Beacon Hill Civic Association's Traffic and Parking Committee, put the problem in blunt terms: on one morning this summer, 37 of 40 spaces on Chestnut Street were occupied by contractors. Durkan read constituent letters into the record including one from an 85-year-old resident whose handicapped parking space is routinely taken by contractors, and another from a Back Bay resident who has spent two years navigating a construction truck blocking her only alley exit.