HOWELL – The Township Council introduced an ordinance during its latest meeting that would ban overnight parking on residential streets for people that do not have a parking permit.
The ordinance would prohibit those without a parking permit from parking on residential streets between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. every morning. According to the council, the amount of permits each home is allowed is equal to the number of bedrooms in the home. The permits can only be used by the vehicle that is connected with the specific address.
After public comments closed, Mayor John Leggio stated that it is the aim of this ordinance to be context neutral and fair to everyone. On top of that, public workshops and educational sessions will be available for residents to attend so that they can better understand the ordinance, and so that the council can hear public opinions about how to make the bill better. The council is planning on having several sessions at different times and possibly different locations so that residents of the town who work during different hours have an opportunity to attend the session.
Before wrapping up his statement, he reiterated that this ordinance will not be adopted for the next couple weeks until these public sessions have concluded. The town will have those information sessions and public hearing sessions before the ordinance goes up for adoption on March 10. Residents are encouraged to check the town’s website for the time and date of those hearings.
Out of the people who signed up for public comments at the meeting, not a single one came to the podium with an overall issue with the bill. In fact, the reception was quite positive. A few residents from neighboring towns such as Jackon also came to the podium, stated how much they liked the bill, and that they wish to bring something similar to the table in their town.
However, a few speakers came to the podium to bring attention to other issues related to congested residential roadways, to raise safety awareness, and to suggest adding onto the ordinance to cover the congestion issues that are popping up on residential roadways during the daytime.
One of the attendees at the meeting took to the podium to raise safety concerns over congested roadways in the Woodstone development and on Starlight Road. According to the speaker, those roadways, with the way they bend and how much congestion there is with parking on the side, residents cannot see around the cars to see if another one is coming from the opposite direction.
According to the New Jersey Department of Transportation design manual, the recommended stopping site distance for a vehicle on a 25 mile an hour road is 155 ft. According to the speaker, that means that drivers are supposed to have an unencumbered sightline to view an object three feet off the road. The speaker said that since the turns are so tight in some of the areas in the development, that sight line ends right at the end of the road. When you add cars to either side of the road, it seriously impairs vision. While the issue was brought to the council’s attention, nothing further was said on the matter after public comments closed.
The next Howell Township Council meeting will take place on February 10 at 7 p.m.
