SPOTSWOOD — Truckers have been told to stop parking their vehicles on Conrail owned property on East Main Street.
The borough has begun leasing the property from Conrail and has plans to beautify the area. It has recently alerted the owners of several vehicles that they can no longer use the site for free parking.
At a recent meeting, the Borough Council adopted an ordinance prohibiting parking there. Council President Curtis Stollen said the truckers were fortunate to have been able to park there for as long as they did. To his knowledge, Conrail never charged the truckers for use of the area.
But the appearance of the property irked borough officials, who have long sought to improve it because it is perhaps the most prominent entrance point to Spotswood, just off Route 18.
Stollen said the police department recently left notices on the vehicles informing drivers that they would soon have to stop parking there.
“We want to give them plenty of time to locate new parking facilities,” he said.
The town did not receive any immediate response to the notices.
“They had a good thing going while they had it,” Stollen said. “It was quite a deal for them to have this gratis. To think Conrail al- lowed it is beyond me.”
The borough fought to get Conrail to agree to allow them to improve the land. Officials were at first outraged that Conrail would not allow the town to beautify the area without first agreeing to a paid lease. Conrail initially offered to lease Spotswood the land for $1,200 a year, but officials negotiated and later agreed on $600.
Mayor Thomas Barlow plans to create a committee to focus on improving the land. Stollen said there could be some light landscaping done, but Conrail is opposed to any heavy vegetation because the company fears it would block sight of the train tracks.
“You would have to do it with some restrictions in mind,” Stollen said.
The committee will likely start up within a month, he said, and the parking ban will take effect during the same time.
The council also banned parking at a property near the intersection of Brunswick Avenue and Old Stage Road. The county used open space funds to purchase the land last year, with the intent on keeping it as open space. Stollen said there may be some vehicles parking at that site, which is heavily wooded, and the council wants to make sure no one parks there.
“If it’s borough property and cars park there, we don’t want to encourage that,” he said.