Parking meter rates in downtown Princeton Borough would rise to $1.50 per hour.
By: Jennifer Potash
Princeton Borough merchants, along with some residents and downtown shoppers, are preparing do to battle with the Borough Council over proposed parking meter rate changes.
Petitions are being circulated in downtown businesses calling for the council to abandon the proposal to raise rates and increase enforcement hours.
Mayor Marvin Reed said the borough staff is preparing an ordinance for introduction at the June 27 council meeting that would raise the parking meter rates to $1.50 an hour in Palmer Square and $1 an hour on other parts of the central business district, including Nassau Street between Bayard Lane and Vandeventer Avenue, and Witherspoon Street from Nassau Street to Paul Robeson Place.
The current meter rate, adopted in 1998, is 75 cents an hour in all these areas.
The petitions — which have turned up in Halo Pub, Micawber Books, Hinkson’s, the Annex and other downtown establishments — declare that the “customers of the stores in downtown Princeton do protest against the proposed parking meter rate hike to $1.50 per hour,” as well as other proposals the council has yet to take action on, such as extension of meter hours to 10 p.m. and on Sundays.
Halo Pub, located on Hulfish Street near Witherspoon Street, has collected at least 13 signed petitions, containing more than 150 names, in the past two weeks, said manager Tom Arnold.
A serious concern among the downtown merchants is losing customers who may be enticed by free parking at a shopping mall.
“The Princeton MarketFair has lots of parking and sells food there,” Mr. Arnold noted.
While eating an ice cream cone in Halo Pub, Julia Garry of Hopewell Township said higher meter rates wouldn’t stop her regular visits to Princeton. But she said she is concerned that the small, individually owned businesses would suffer and the downtown would lose an attractive part of its character.
“People are not going to pay a buck fifty to buy a 30-cent screw at the hardware store,” Ms. Garry said. “It’s more a matter of what kind of downtown is Princeton going to become without all the small businesses.”
Hinkson’s Office Supplies and Furniture, on Nassau Street, has received a lot of responses from customers opposing the new rates, said manager Andrew Mangone.
Rich Carnevale, whose family has owned and operated the Annex Restaurant for 50 years, views the increases “as one more nail in the coffin” for local businesses.
Coupled with the recently adopted smoking ban in restaurants, bars and other public places and workplaces, more expensive parking meter rates will push customers to establishments that have fewer hassles, Mr. Carnevale said. (The smoking ban’s enforcement has been voluntarily postponed by the Princeton Regional Health Commission pending a court review. The Annex is one of four litigants suing the commission to block the ordinance.)
Micawber Books co-owner Margaret Knapp said she has foundcustomers in the Nassau Street store are eager to sign the petition.
“It’s a slap in the face,” Ms. Knapp said of the proposed higher meter rates.
Nevertheless, some residents said Monday that they would still come downtown even if the rates are raised.
“I would probably go to the lot on Spring Street rather than park on the street,” said Andrea Didisheim said. “It’s a pain, though.”
Areta Powlynsky of Princeton Borough, who often walks downtown, agreed with Ms. Didisheim.
“When you’ve got kids screaming in the car, it’s hard to get out six quarters,” she said.
The proposed increased meter rates would not affect Cynthia Parker, who lives on John Street with her husband and three children and almost always walks downtown. Of greater concern to Ms. Parker and her family is the possibility of extending the meter enforcement hours to Sundays, which conflicts with church activities that often run into Sunday afternoon and evenings, she said.
Ms. Knapp and Mr. Carnevale said the Borough Council should give some thought to “creative” solutions other than raising parking meter rates. One example, Mr. Carnevale said, would be a shuttle system, with parking at the Princeton Shopping Center or other remote locations to get the downtown employees or other long-term parkers out of the high-demand central business district.
Council members have pushed for the higher rates in order to generate $100,000 in revenue to keep the proposed 2000 municipal tax rate at a 2-cent increase over the current rate.