Dash Laundromat Launches Parking Pass After Towing Drama

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — A New Bedford business has had to get creative to alleviate parking issues at its South End location.

Dash Laundromat, which opened on West Rodney French Boulevard last summer in the former Advance Auto Parts building, has been battling parking problems since even before it opened.

Residents of the neighborhood had used the lot of the long-vacant business for their own parking needs, and customers of the shops across the street at Kilburn Mill also utilized the spaces.

Dash Laundromat Towing Incident Escalates Tensions

On the weekend of February 14-15, things came to a head when the property management team at the Oceanside Plaza decided enough was enough and had vehicles towed from the lot that were not customers of Dash or the other businesses of the plaza.

“Over the past year, we have dealt with an ongoing parking issue at our New Bedford location. We have remained patient. We have remained professional,” Dash posted to its Facebook page. “Our property management team has reached out to Kilburn Mill management numerous times since early last year in an effort to resolve the overflow parking problem. Unfortunately, those efforts have not produced a solution.”

The post went on to describe how Kilburn Mill patrons and business owners were still using the Dash parking lot, despite signage warning them they could be towed.

“Entering our laundromat to yell at staff who are simply doing their jobs is unacceptable. Making sexually inappropriate comments toward a delivery driver who was attempting to politely warn individuals that towing enforcement was in effect is beyond unprofessional,” Dash wrote. “After reviewing our cameras and confirming who was involved, it is deeply disappointing to see that this conduct came from fellow business owners.”

“If there is frustration about parking availability, that frustration should be directed toward Kilburn Mill management. They have the space to accommodate their tenants and visitors. That is not the responsibility of the businesses at Oceanside Plaza,” Dash wrote.

Dash owner Jason Araujo called into WBSM the following Monday morning to share his frustrations further.

“Since we’ve opened, it’s been a complete nightmare,” Araujo said. “The first week we were there, we had homeless people living in campers that we had to get out and get it cleaned up to try to make it as safe as possible.”

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Dash Introduces Parking Pass Program

Following last Monday’s blizzard and further parking issues caused by huge piles of snow, Araujo and his team had to get creative to help with the parking issues. Dash announced on social media on March 1 that it is launching the Dash Parking Pass Program at the New Bedford location.

Anyone who is actively doing self-service laundry or who has dropped off laundry for Dash to wash that same day will be issued a parking pass. The pass gives the customer a three-hour window to visit other businesses while their laundry is being done. That means they can visit Kilburn Mill’s shops, Society Coffee Bar, or other Oceanside Plaza businesses such as the forthcoming Crunch Fitness.

READ MORE: New Bedford Is Getting the Region's First Crunch Fitness 3.0

“Oceanside Plaza has limited parking. This program is currently the only step available to help protect the spaces that all tenants here pay to provide for their customers,” Dash wrote. “We truly encourage our Dash customers to support and visit all South End businesses. We want a thriving neighborhood for everyone.”

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The parking problems in the area around Kilburn Mill have been an issue for quite some time, as the mill has continued to welcome popular businesses such as Society, Deep Finds and the new Record High shop.

READ MORE: New Bedford Welcomes New Record Store to Kilburn Mill

Ward 6 Councilor Pushes for City Enforcement

In his weekly appearance on WBSM Monday, New Bedford City Council President Ryan Pereira, who represents Ward 6 and the city’s South End, said there have been “a lot of problems with parking” in the area around Kilburn Mill.

“I’ve been in contact with multiple departments to try and fix compliance on West Rodney French Boulevard,” he said. “Whether it’s double parking, or stopping and letting people out, it’s bottlenecking traffic because that is only a one-lane road (in each direction).”

Pereira said he knows that with deliveries to the mill, “it can kind of get chaotic” and there needs to be more enforcement of the city’s parking laws.

“We’re going to work to put better signage over there, and enforcement. That’s one piece of it,” he said. “The other piece of it is going to be a meeting with the management and the owners of the mill to try and come up with other solutions.”

Pereira: Kilburn Mill Needs to Open Up More Parking

One solution Pereira said he will advocate for is opening up the area behind Kilburn Mill for additional parking.

“More businesses are coming in, and we want them,” he said. “The mill is vibrant, it is growing, but that also comes with the responsibility of finding adequate places for their patrons to park, and that could mean being creative and using some of the space behind the mill for parking.”

Timed Parking Could Also Alleviate Parking Pressures

He also said timed parking on West Rodney French Boulevard could be an additional solution.

“We can kind of stagger that in front of the mill,” he said. “That’s the conversation I am going to be having with the owners and the manager of the mill. Maybe some dedicated drop-off zones, where you can only idle your vehicle, so you’re either dropping someone off or running in to drop off a package. Then maybe some other two-hour limit parking spaces to allow people to move along.”