Changes Promised to Parking Permit System in 2026
- David Chmiel
- Dec 30, 2025
- 3 min read
Chaotic, contentious public hearing leads to discussion on ‘stacking’ and another meeting.
By David Chmiel/Photos by Karen Fucito
“It’s not a simple solution.”
Dover Mayor James P. Dodd delivered the most concise statement during a chaotic and contentious meeting scheduled to review the new 2026 parking fee created to manage overcrowded residential streets.
Instead, the agitated, standing-room-only crowd in the Dover Free Library thinned out only after the Dover Fire Department was called in for a safety review and removed those who didn’t have seats. Before that, the first 30 minutes of the meeting erupted in a mashup of raised voices in Spanish and English, followed by technical glitches – and threats from the Mayor to end the meeting unless order was restored – as residents questioned a policy adopted by the Town Council in June that would charge Dover residents $50 per year, per car, for permits. Downtown employees would pay $300, every six months.
Monday’s meeting was the second unveiling for residents of the parking details. Mayor Dodd, Town Planner Alex Dougherty, and Parking Authority Director Fernando Barrios fielded questions while Recreation Leader Michelle worked hard to translate every comment and question.
“We want to listen to you,” Mayor Dodd said, ”and we’re here to tell you this is a work in progress. Originally, my plan… was if your vehicle was registered to your home in Dover, even if there were five cars. You get five on-street parking permits. The parking committee changed it, and they wanted one free, and then whatever they changed it to. But again, we're here to listen.”
For more than two hours, residents shared enough stories and expressed enough confusion and outrage to prompt Mayor Dodd to consider scrapping the entire program, which was supposed to start January 1, permanently.
Former Mayor Carolyn Blackman, often the target of Mayor Dodd’s criticism, stormed to the front of the room, saying, “Stop blaming me for every problem here.”
While some residents shared stories of overcrowding on narrow streets, others expressed concern about having multiple vehicles, including company-owned vehicles, and being forced to pay for permits. Dodd agreed with still others who objected to the overnight no-parking hours – from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. – that would make it hard for out-of-town visitors to enjoy spending time with residents.”
Then he tabled the January 1 start date after taking a casual poll of residents. “How many of you think things are okay?” the mayor asked. The question drew enough positive votes to provide more pushback from the public, and Mayor Dodd changed again, saying the plan won’t start right away, even acknowledging that he might push for parking permits for every legally registered Dover resident, which directly contradicted Daugherty’s support for the paid permits.
At this point, the meeting focused more on “stacking,” the overcrowding of homes and apartments to make them affordable to people who can’t afford housing on their own.
Mayor Dodd suggested that enforcing Certificates of Compliance meant requiring all residents to prove that their homes meet the occupancy terms of their leases or rental agreements. Some residents expressed concerns about adding staff to enforce the COC policy, which raised concerns about privacy rights for residents.
“So, the stacking,” Dougherty said. “We work from nine to five. They leave during the day. We work during the day. So we knock, knock, and get no answer. So how do we get to the stackers if they’re at work? Let's identify those cars. Okay. So, let's do the night scenario… Knock knock. No answer. ‘Code enforcement, can we come in? We have a complaint about overcrowding.’
You say, ‘No.’ What now?”
The town planner then offered another example: “We get that house for overcrowding, but we check it, and it's not a problem today. Then we come back six or 16 months later. And then what? We're just chasing our tails. You want your neighborhood back, you want to get cars out of here, work with us so we can get these vehicles out of here.”
As a debate on parking – or on stacking – rages on, Mayor Dodd promised that, “within two weeks,” there would be a special newsletter created to explain more clearly the future and the specifics of the parking plan and another meeting scheduled at a larger venue to handle everyone with a comment to be heard.
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