Mayor extends a grace period on parking flap

After days of hedging, Mayor Thomas M. Menino declared yesterday that he will resume strict enforcement of his politically touchy rule prohibiting residents from staking claim to parking spaces for days after shoveling them out.

But he extended the 48-hour grace period for holding spaces after snowstorms by four days.

Calling an end to the city's snow emergency today at 8 a.m., he said residents can keep their claims on spots until 8 a.m. Wednesday. Then, city crews will start picking up parking space markers -- everything from paint cans to trash barrels to a snow-packed picnic basket -- that now line the streets in some neighborhoods.

''Four additional days after a snow emergency is sufficient time," he said at a news conference.

Until yesterday, the mayor had been mute on the rule he had vehemently defended just a few weeks before, as snow pounded the city and some residents blatantly defied him. In South Boston, where many call the practice a birthright, City Councilor James M. Kelly thumbed his nose at the rule, keeping a trash barrel in the spot he shoveled out and gleefully defending the practice to national media outlets.

Menino said it was the 30 inches of snow that blanketed Boston this week -- not political pressure -- that made him decide to extend the grace period.

''I'm so glad Jimmy Kelly has decided to take up such a substantive issue," Menino quipped of the councilor's opposition.

He said warmer weather expected this weekend should melt some of the snow and make navigation of the city a bit easier. He also warned residents not to shovel snow back out on the street.

Wintertime parking has been an explosive issue in South Boston, where some residents yesterday seemed resolute to keep their spaces come what may.

''It's too political for the mayor. If he tries to enforce the 48-hour rule, there will be a South Boston Irish uprising," said John MacMunn, a 70-year-old retiree.

But another South Boston resident, Michael Lewis, said it's much ado about nothing.

''I think this whole space saving, this is ludicrous," said Lewis, a 34-year-old consultant. ''I would be doing it if I was in the second grade."

The city has spent $1.8 million over its $7.7 million snow budget for the year, according to Seth Gitell, the mayor's spokesman. Menino said that Governor Mitt Romney has asked the federal government to declare a state of emergency in Massachusetts in order to procure money for snow cleanup efforts.

Menino estimates that about 1,700 truckloads of snow have been transported to snow farms.

Meanwhile, the remains of the storms that pounded the region continued to cause headaches around Boston and other coastal areas. In Salem yesterday, fire officials stressed the importance of digging out fire hydrants after their response to an early morning fire was hampered by impassable roads and buried hydrants. Salem firefighters responded to the fire at 74 Endicott St. at about 4:20 a.m.

All residents escaped the burning building, with one injury reported. It was later determined to have been caused by a space heater.

''We run into this every year," said firefighter Glen Beaudet. ''We have all our crews out every day with metal detectors or broom handles. . . . It's just a shame that people know where [hydrants] are right in front of the house and they don't do anything about it."

Interstate 95 south at Route 114 in Danvers was shut down briefly after a tractor-tanker struck a snowplow from behind, State Police said. The two drivers sustained only minor injuries and were not transported from the scene, police said. Morgan E. Davis, 35, of Gardner, was driving the tanker and Robert T. Peachey, 67, of Middleton, was driving the plow, according to police.

The tanker was empty but the tractor's diesel fuel tanks leaked after the crash and the Department of Environmental Protection was called in. The two left lanes were reopened at 7:30 a.m. and the roadway was cleared by 9:30, police said. The accident is still under investigation.

Gary Gilchrist, who lives in Boston's South End, said his street still had not been fully plowed yesterday afternoon. He rented a car all week and parked in a local garage, he said.

His repeated calls to city departments did little, he said. ''I even tried getting annoyed on the phone with them, and that didn't seem to help either," Gilchrist said.

Gitell said crews were dispatched to check out Gilchrist's street yesterday evening. The volume of complaints this week has been less than usual, he said, and mostly concerned questions about the snow emergency.

Eliza Greenberg, commissioner of affairs for the elderly in the mayor's office, said her staff was continuing to work at full capacity to assist elderly residents. Primary concerns included ensuring that residents were warm and had enough food to get through the week. Staff members also helped shovel paths at homes that were expecting oil deliveries to ensure heat was not cut off.