The closing of a major parking lot looms as construction nears.
By: Jennifer Potash
With downtown parking spaces already at a premium, borough merchants say they fear the impact of closing a major parking lot once construction projects begin this summer.
Borough Merchants for Princeton, an advocacy group of about 70 downtown business owners, met with representatives of Princeton Borough Council on Tuesday morning at the Nassau Inn to discuss short- and long-term solutions to an expected parking crunch.
"Soon the downtown is not going to have a parking destination for about 1,000 cars a day," said Bill Howard, owner of Triangle Repro Center on Nassau Street and member of Borough Merchants for Princeton.
The merchants agreed to conduct a survey among their membership about the viability of a jitney service and valet parking for restaurant customers.
A two-year period of construction on the Witherspoon Street block between Wiggins and Spring streets is about to start this spring.
The new Princeton Public Library construction is slated to begin in April and finish in 2003.
The Princeton Borough Council is taking steps to have its Park & Shop lot ready for the construction of a 483-space parking garage and other related projects by July.
Mayor Marvin Reed has said if the borough sticks to its aggressive timetable, the garage could open by early 2004. The upcoming library construction has forced the closure of half the lot so far, with the rest of the 180 spaces expected to vanish in July when the borough closes the entire lot.
Also, the library construction may require the closure of Witherspoon Street between Paul Robeson Place and Hulfish Street, which takes away some on-street metered spaces, for short periods.
The merchants have voiced concern for several months that borough officials have not come up with a plan to deal with the parking shortage during the construction phase.
Mayor Reed said there are a number of temporary parking changes under consideration, but the borough has "not made concrete plans."
The merchants and elected officials agreed some short-term measures are necessary.
Among the options are remote parking lots with a jitney service, primarily intended for downtown employee use; better street signs identifying parking areas; a temporary suspension of the two-hour restriction for parking on residential streets with a permit system; and changing the 10-hour meters to 12 hours on North Tulane, Paul Robeson Place, Chambers Street and Spring Street.
Princeton Borough has a valet parking ordinance on its books but none of the restaurants in town has sought a permit, Mayor Reed said. He suggested a few of the larger restaurants band together to offer valet parking, which may lessen the frustration of drivers circling the block looking for a space.
The two Palmer Square garages, on Chambers and Hulfish streets, have a combined average daily vacancy rate of 30 percent and could accommodate additional parkers, said David Newton, vice president of Palmer Square LLC.
Last year, Palmer Square instituted the Value Pass program, which provides a 20- to 30-percent discount off parking rates for shoppers and a 50-percent discount to downtown employees. The program has sold about 200 passes, mostly to downtown employees, and there are plans to launch a larger marketing campaign with the placement of Value Pass brochures in more of the downtown shops, Mr. Newton said.
The borough may take a more forgiving approach to meter enforcement during the construction period, Mayor Reed said.
"If it takes someone 15 minutes to find a parking space, then they’re not going to be happy about getting a ticket for being five minutes late," he said.
If a jitney service works during the construction period it could become a more permanent solution, said Mayor Reed.
The Borough Merchants will conduct the member survey to determine the level of interest and financial commitment and return the results to the borough in a month, said Michael Hopper, president of the association and vice president of sales and operation at Hamilton Jewelers on Nassau Street.
Sandy Solomon, chairwoman of the borough’s Traffic and Transportation Committee, said the committee would like to discuss with Princeton University the possibility of using some of the remote parking lots on campus and internal shuttle system as part of a community-wide jitney program.
The borough is working with property owners abutting the municipal lot on Park Place about potential leases, Mayor Reed said. The borough received a six-month extension for its lease of the long-term metered lot at St. Paul Roman Catholic Church off Moore Street. That lot provides 40 spaces.
Borough Councilwoman Wendy Benchley asked the merchants to support her proposal for the borough to hire a "traffic czar" to set up and coordinate all the parking programs such as the jitney.