Chatham High Students In Favor of Expanded Lot

Liz Hyde, Kate Murphy and Callie Farmakis attended the meeting on April 11 to speak in favor of expanding the parking lot at .

The students, who are all officers of the Class of 2012, said they were considerate of the environmental concerns and the concerns of residents along Longwood Avenue and other streets near the high school, but that not expanding the parking lot would lead to yet more crowding and greater danger to both drivers and pedestrians before and after school.

Students at Chatham High currently share parking spaces with two students allowed to share each space. Hyde, Murphy and Farmakis said that if the lot is not expanded, the growing student population would mean that three students would have to share a space. Kylie’s Law, the New Jersey state law which prohibits more than one passenger in cars driven by teenage drivers, would make it impossible for three students to carpool at a time.

Parents and residents of the area had previously direct students to either walk from home or park at the Colony Pool lot and walk to the high school, citing the advantages to exercise and fresh air as well as the environmental conservation aspects of such a plan. The students, though, said that with all the activities, sports and jobs that Chatham High students juggle, taking the time to walk from home or from Colony Pool would make it impossible for them to keep their schedules, especially in the traffic around the high school.