The Department of Transportation has told the borough it approves of its plan to use permit parking and to restrict parking to two hours in public lots.
By: Scott Morgan
HIGHTSTOWN In December of last year, borough officials met with a New Jersey Department of Transportation field investigator to discuss the future of a pair of parking lots in the downtown business district.
Monday night, Borough Council announced the DOT’s answer. The department granted the borough permission to reconstruct selected areas of the parking lot on Stockton Street between Railroad Avenue and Main Street, and those in the public lot on Main Street between Peddie Lake and Theo’s Restaurant, formerly the Court Jester.
A pair of ordinances regarding parking regulations and enforcement were introduced Monday and are pending approval. The public hearing and for those measures will be held April 1.
Currently, the two lots are a mix of one-, two- and four-hour parking spaces, primarily used by employees of downtown businesses. Toward the end of last year, borough officials proposed changing the parking situation at the Stockton Street lot to include an area of permit-only parking for local employees and designating the alley leading into the lot from Main Street as a pedestrian walkway. Proposed changes to both lots also included redesignating all public parking spaces as two-hour parking only. Changes also include reconfiguring the lots for better handicapped parking access.
But the borough’s plans to amend their parking lots were unexpectedly sidelined by the DOT, said Councilman Mike Vanderbeck, a member of the Revitalization Project Coordination Committee, which includes the municipal parking plan. Mr. Vanderbeck said most people assume the DOT’s input stems from the lots being on county and state roads. Stockton Street is part of county Route 571 and Main Street is part of state Route 33.
But according to Mr. Vanderbeck, the DOT has the authority to review any situation in which parking lots will be regulated. Over the last four months, DOT has reviewed the proposed changes and has offered some suggestions the borough was happy to take, Mr. Vanderbeck said.
The new ordinance designates both lots as two-hour parking sites, to be enforced 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays. The Stockton Street lot will have permit parking for residents and employees of businesses adjacent to it. Also, no vehicles over 3 tons will be allowed to park in either lot.
Mr. Vanderbeck acknowledged the importance of enforcement of parking violations. In fact, one of the best suggestions from DOT was that repeat parking offenders should be towed, he said. Pending the approval of the enforcement ordinance, police will have the authority to ticket, tow and impound vehicles in violation of the lot rules.
Police Chief James "Mickey" Eufemia said the proposed ordinances will fix the problems of vehicles left in the lots for long periods of time, including nonoperating vehicles in need of repair or registration.
The proposed enforcement ordinance also outlaws such vehicles from private property in the borough.
With recent DOT approval to begin construction for the revitalization, Mr. Vanderbeck said it is the perfect time to have well-enforced parking in the heart of the revitalization district.
"It’s great that we’re going to have that come in on the heels of the revitalization," he said.