Officials to revisit Timberlane-area parking issue

Meetings will be held to hammer out a proposed ordinance that would satisfy all concerned

By John Tredrea
   A proposed ordinance prohibiting parking along sections of Pennington-Titusville, Pennington-Harbourton and Scotch roads was sent back to the drawing board during Monday night’s Hopewell Township Committee meeting.
   Expected soon are meetings between committee members, township professional consultants including Township Engineer Paul Pogorzelski, school officials and residents of the three roads covered by the ordinance. The purpose of the meetings will be an effort to hammer out a proposed ordinance that would satisfy all these parties.
   No dates have been set for the meetings.
   The ordinance on the table Monday was defeated by a 4-0 committee vote. Judy Niederer and the other committee members said the defeat was intended only to clear the deck and give residents and officials another chance to come up with an ordinance that would satisfy everyone.
   Residents of the three roads supported the failed ordinance, saying parking on their streets by people attending athletic events at the Athletic Fields at Timberlane (known as Back Timberlane) creates unsafe traffic conditions.
   For their part, school officials said prohibition of parking on the roads would impede holding athletic events on those fields. Those officials also implored the committee to delay an adoption vote on a parking ordinance until school officials had been able to participate in the negotiations that could produce such an ordinance.
   "As your neighbor, we were never informed about this ordinance until we read about it in the newspaper," school board President Kim Newport said to the committee during the lengthy public hearing that preceded the defeat of the ordinance. (An HVN story on the committee’s introduction of the ordinance was published Dec. 1.)
   School district Business Administrator/Board Secretary John Nemeth said Monday that the defeated ordinance would have impeded the district’s ability to host athletic events in the fall and spring seasons.
   Neighbors of the Timberlane fields said the ordinance is very much needed and way overdue. In its approval of the Back Timberlane project nearly four years ago, the township Planning Board recommended regulation of parking on the streets covered by the ordinance on the table Monday night. Those streets bound three sides of Back Timberlane. The fourth side is bounded by the eastern portion of the grounds of Timberlane Middle School.
   "There are no sidewalks on these roads," said Scotch Road resident Gene Ramsey. "We have had parking on both sides of them during athletic events. This forces pedestrians to walk in the traffic lane of the road. That’s unsafe for residents as well as those involved in the athletic events."
   Carrie O’Boyle of Pennington-Titusville Road said that, when cars have been parked on her road for athletic events, she cannot get safely out of her driveway because her view of oncoming traffic is completely obstructed until her vehicle is completely out in the road. "Am I supposed to have a flagman there every time I want to leave?" she asked incredulously.
   "It is a dangerous situation," declared Pennington-Titusville Road resident Anthony Arnone. Mr. Arnone decried the fact that two Back Timberlane fields have been built with no onsite parking. He said no other developer would have been allowed to do this.
   Soundly defeated twice by Valley voters were referendums to build nine fields at Back Timberlane. Two fields and a stormwater basin have been built with private donations since those defeats. Much of the money has come from the Recreation Foundation of Hopewell Valley.
   After listening to district officials and neighbors, the Township Committee agreed the ordinance needed more work and that the district and neighbors needed to be in on the job with the township. "We should have a fuller dialogue," Committeewoman Niederer said.
   "Safety is a concern," added Deputy Mayor Mark Iorio.
   "A safety concern has been raised and it’s not something we can ignore," said Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom.
   Committeeman David Sandahl said the issue has been dragging on for years and that he "really wants to see something done" as soon as possible.