By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton will have less free on-street parking amid changes the council will make, including requiring some residents of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood to begin paying for overnight parking permits., At a parking-themed council meeting Monday, the governing body did not vote on those or other changes that officials agreed to make. A series of ordinances will come before them to put the rules into effect. In some sections of town, the municipality will look to install metered parking where there is none., For instance, two-hour meters are slated for Witherspoon Street, from Franklin Avenue to Henry Avenue, and College Road, between University Place and Alexander Street. College Road is owned by Princeton University, so the town would need to work with the school on that change, said town engineer Deanna Stockton during the council meeting., Kristin S. Appelget, director of community and regional affairs for Nassau Hall, said the university would be willing to consider the idea., In another change, the town would install three-hour parking on a stretch of University Place, near the old Dinky Station, where a new restaurant has opened and one more is due to open. At the moment, those 26 spaces allow up to 14 hours of parking., Restaurateur Jim Nawn went before council to urge for more short-term parking. “Turnover in those spaces is necessary for my business,” he said during public comment., As part of other changes, council agreed to require residents in the old-Township section of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood to begin paying for overnight on-street parking permits, for $120 a year. The change brings those streets — Birch, Leigh, Race and John — into line with what the rest of the neighborhood, located in the former borough, has had to do., The town will grandfather in existing residents to enable them to continue getting two permits if they don’t have a driveway and one permit if they have a driveway, however. Permits would enable them to park on the street from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., But the grandfather clause expires when new homeowners move in. Those residents would be eligible for only one permit in cases where they don’t have a driveway, and none if they do., Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller sought to make the case that the town does not “provide private parking spots on the street.” She also couched her argument in environmental terms, in a move to discourage car ownership., In a less debated issue, officials agreed to extend the time motorists can park at the Dinky lot, from three days to seven, mirroring what is allowed at the Princeton Junction station.
