RED BANK – Residents have taken backHudsonAvenue, as the Borough Council approved a measure to restrict parking on the street.
Both sides of Hudson Avenue from East Bergen Place to Harding Road will soon require residential permits at all times to park on the street.
The council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance at theMarch 24meeting after hearing arguments froma host of postal service employees who were against the restriction aswell as fromHudsonAvenue residents who “wanted their street back.”
“Let us have our street back,” said Hudson Avenue resident Tim Hogan. “Our sister
streets all have residential parking. It becomes a quality-of-life issue. This is a residential area and it should be residential parking.”
Postal employees were against the restriction since many park on the street when they are at work at the Post Office on Broad Street.
“I’m opposed to the measure because parking for us is almost impossible. I have to park now on Pinckney Road and walk all the way down. When I get to Hudson I can easily walk at least 100 yards and not have a car parked on the road on either side,” said postal carrier Tony Soto, of Hazlet.
A Hudson Avenue resident who lives at the other end of the street away from the post office, said the problem on his part of the street has to do with overflow parking from a nearby church.
Without the measure, Hudson Avenue parking is restricted to a two-hour limit, which residents say is still an issue.
“It is a-quality-of-life issue,” said 25- year Hudson Avenue resident Tom Doremus. “I live in the town. I pay taxes in the town. I have a store in the town. I come home 11 or 12 p.m. [and] the driveway is blocked. It’s not just the post office employees.”
Doremus said the postal workers parking is something that should be addressed by the post office itself and not the town.
Postmaster LeoNara spoke at themeeting on behalf of the 138 postal workers who are employed at the post office.
“We have 53 vehicles that have to park inside the lot everyday,” saidNara of the lack of spaces in the post office lot. “I’mreally opposed to your change. Why penalize people who need it [parking] during the day.”
He said the Postal Service doesn’t consider parking an issue and that it is up to the employees to find their own parking.
CouncilmanArtMurphy suggested that the postal service employees look into securing some parking spaces in lots around town that are not being fully utilized like the Verizon parking lot.
“I do believe that the post office should have to bear the responsibility of finding parking for their employees,” said CouncilmanMichael R.DuPont aftermaking amotion to move the ordinance for approval.
Councilwoman Mary-Grace Cangemi agreed that the post office needs to bear some responsibility in helping their employees secure parking.
“The problem is greater than simply a few postal employees. While you may park responsibly, there are a lot of people here… who have people not being responsible on the street,” said Cangemi.
Councilman John P. Curley was absent from the vote as he was not in attendance at the meeting.
The next Red Bank Councilmeetingwill take place April 14 at 5:30 p.m.