New ordinance introduced to establish parking permit district near PHS and Westminster Choir College.
By: Jeff Milgram
After hashing out the details, the Princeton Borough Council introduced an ordinance Tuesday night that would set up a parking permit district near Princeton High School and Westminster Choir College.
The ordinance is slightly different from a companion ordinance introduced unanimously Monday night by the Princeton Township Committee.
The borough ordinance contains a sunset clause limiting the measure to a year-long trial, which would end July 1, 2005 unless approved again. The township ordinance contains no such clause.
The borough ordinance also requires the Princeton Regional Board of Education to pass a resolution setting out procedures for issuing student parking decals.
The township ordinance requires only that the borough pass a companion measure.
Both ordinances call for free permits for residents and a $10-a-year fee for students. Violations would cost $50.
If the ordinances are adopted in August, municipal and school officials believe the permit plan could go into effect when school starts in September.
The Borough Council will hold a public hearing on Aug. 3; the Township Committee will hold its public hearing on Aug. 16.
The borough and township ordinances would designate a special parking district from Sept. 1 to June 30 of each year, except Saturday, Sundays and legal holidays.
From 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., cars of borough residents would have to display a parking decal to park on the west side of Moore Street from 150 feet north of Wiggins Street to the Princeton Township line; the south side of Houghton Road between Moore Street and Walnut Lane; the east side of Jefferson Road from Wiggins Street to the Princeton Township line; the south side of Franklin Avenue from Moore Street to Jefferson Road; and the south side of Hawthorne Avenue from Walnut Lane to Jefferson Road.
In addition, the borough ordinance places a two-hour parking limit between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on the west side of Moore Street from Park Place to a point 150 feet south of Wiggins Street.
Student parking permits would be issued to the school administration, which would then determine how to distribute them to students.
"I don’t think asking kids to pay $10 for a guaranteed parking spot is out of the question," said Anne Burns, president of the Princeton Regional Board of Education. The ordinances leave it up to the school administration to set up "fair and reasonable procedures" for students to get parking decals.
In the borough, high school students with permits could park from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the east side of Walnut Lane between Houghton Road and the Princeton Township line and the south side of Guyot Avenue between Moore Street and Walnut Lane.
The township ordinance prohibits parking except to residential permit holders between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on the following streets: the east side of Harris Road from Henry Avenue to the borough line; the south side of Henry Avenue from Moore Street to Harris Road; the east side of Jefferson Road from the borough line to Guyot Avenue; the east side of Linden Lane from Henry Avenue to the borough line; and the west side of Moore Street from the borough line to Guyot Avenue.
According to the township ordinance, high school students who hold permits would be allowed to park from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Franklin Avenue from Walnut Lane to a point 400 feet east; on Guyot Avenue from the borough line to Moore Street; and Walnut Lane from the borough line to Franklin Avenue.
Parking at PHS has been a problem for years. Students complain they are forced to park on streets with two-hour limits. Residents say the students litter, block driveways and play loud music in their cars.
The ordinances grew out of an agreement reached by an ad hoc high school parking committee, made up of municipal officials, members of the school board and residents of the PHS neighborhood.
Some members of Borough Council criticized the permit parking plan. Council President Mildred Trotman said the proposal was "opening a Pandora’s Box," saying she knew "for a fact" that other residents are interested in permit parking in their neighborhoods.
Councilman Roger Martindell said Thursday he might ask the council to increase the student parking fee.
Councilman David Goldfarb said free permit parking wasn’t fair to residents in other parts of the borough without permitting.
"Students are being given a guaranteed spot," said township Business Administrator James Pascale. Homeowners, he said, shouldn’t be expected to pay for their permits because they pay property taxes. "They don’t need to be further burdened," Mr. Pascale said.
Phyllis Teitelbaum, a resident of Hawthorne Avenue who served on the ad hoc committee, told the Borough Council that residents should not have to pay for permits. Residents agreed to the permit system only because the student-parking problem had to be addressed, she said.
The school board, at its June meeting, informally endorsed the parking plan. Ms. Burns said the board would support a resolution on the plan at its next meeting, Aug. 24.
"The sense of the board is that we’d like to go ahead with it," Ms. Burns said.
Under the ordinances, residents would be given placards that would permit visitors to park on the restricted streets.
Emergency vehicles are exempt from the ordinances and residents may ask police for permission to have additional visitor parking during special events.
PHS would receive seven placards for visitor parking on Houghton Road. In addition, the school district would receive seven placards for visitor parking in the township.
The district would have to pay $10 a year for each placard.
Staff Writer David Campbell contributed to this story.