Parking Permits - Somerville

photo courtesy of www.somerville.patch.com

We charge $90 per permit to obtain Somerville moving van parking permits.

If you'd like to get the permit yourself go to the Office of Traffic and Parking at 133 Holland St. Somerville (its just outside Davis Sq.). The office is open Monday through Wednesday 9 AM to 4 PM, Thursday from 9 AM to 7 PM and Friday from 9 AM to 12 PM. To save some time when you get there, download the form you'll need and fill it out. The Office of Traffic and Parking is also where people go to pay parking tickets and get residential parking stickers so be prepared for a long wait at times. I've been there and gotten in and out in five minutes and other times I've been there and waited in line for half an hour or more. So, be prepared to take some time going through this process just in case.

Once there you'll be called up to one of the teller windows. Hand over your filled out form and get ready to pull out your checkbook. Somerville charges $40 per day per permit and $5 per parking sign. So, for example, if you are moving from one address in Somerville to another and you need permits at each location it would cost you $100 (two permits at $40 apiece and 4 signs at $5 apiece). Additionally, Somerville charges for metered spots. If you need to have us park metered spots you'll need to have those meter numbers with you before you go to obtain your moving van permit. Metered spots in Somerville cost $25 per bagged meter plus a $25 service fee.

Once your charges are determined and you pay the teller will give you signs for the trucks. They're cardboard signs with information about your permit. Keep these for us to put in the front window of our trucks on the day of the move. The actual street signs will be posted by the City of Somerville, so you don't have to worry about that part.

As for a timeline, the website doesn't list how early you need to apply for a moving van permit and calling and asking doesn't yield any better results. I would go at least 2 business days in advance to request a moving van permit, earlier in the busy summer months. You can go much earlier than that, though I once went a month in advance and it seemed to through them off. I did walk away with the permit, though.