Politics & Government

Committee Looks at Making School Ave. One Way

Parking near Colony Pool was taken away when PSE&G revoked licensing agreements.

Chatham Borough was not the only town affected by PSE&G's decision to revoke all licensing agreements along their North Central Reliability Project.

The gravel parking lot at School Avenue and Spring Street, commonly used for Colony Pool parking and overflow parking at Chatham High School, is no longer available to residents.

According to Chatham Township Administrator Tom Ciccarone, PSE&G would only allow parking at the Colony Pool lot if the township paved the lot to the utility company's specifications, specifications which Ciccarone said were "cost-prohibitive."

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Instead, township Engineer John Ruschke put together a plan for on-street parking near Colony Pool. The plan was formalized into an ordinance which was introduced and approved at the April 11 meeting.

If approved, the ordinance will allow on-street parking on Spring Street from Lafayette Avenue to Dale Drive on the west side of the street from the Saturday before Memorial Day, when Colony Pool opens, until Labor Day, when the pool closes.

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The ordinance will also allow parking along the north side of School Avenue from the intersection with School Avenue to 500 ft. east of that point, and will make School Avenue one-way going north, from Spring Street to Floral Street, during the summers.

Parking would not be allowed on the east side of Spring Street from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. when school is in session.

Chatham High School begins at 7:40 a.m.

If the ordinance passes, signs will be put up along the roads to designate allowed parking areas.

Stop signs will also be put on Henry Drive and on Marion Avenue where those roads intersect with Ormont Road.

Residents at recent meetings have expressed some concern with parking plan. Terry Santora wondered if there would be enough on-street parking available on these surface roads. On a busy day at the pool, she said, there can be as many as 100 cars in the lot.

Mayor Nicole Hagner said the township has secured use of the parking lot at Southern Boulevard School, and pool members will be able to park there and use the walking path to access Colony Pool and Tennis Club.

Jessica Miller, a resident of the area, said when the pool is open, "there's a lot of speeding" along School Avenue.

A complete copy of the ordinance as currently drafted is in the Photos & Documents section of this article.


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