High School Parking Lot: The Cons

The Board of Education scheduled an open meeting of the joint Facilities and Finance Committee for Monday at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting will include a public hearing on the proposed expansion of the parking lot at . Several residents of the Chathams have said that the lot would be a waste of taxpayer money, especially since it would require extensive civil engineering that drives the price up. Here are from those who say that the parking lot should not be built.

Cost and Runoff

The cost of the lot is currently slated at $400,000. Some residents have said that this is a lot to pay for a lot that will likely only add about 50 spaces, though it could be .

The proposed space for the expansion collects water easily, and extensive civil engineering would be required to prevent stormwater runoff onto private properties near the high school.

Borough resident Barb Montague that the money would be put to its best use in a parking lot. "If it was going to curriculum, that'd be fine," she said, but a parking lot seemed like an unnecessary expense in a difficult economy.

Colony Pool Lot

The school district currently has an agreement that allows students to use the parking lot as an overflow lot. The lot is located approximately half a mile from Chatham High School.

Though it is unclear how many cars can fit in the lot, a few residents have said that this resource, which is already part of the school's parking program, should be fully utilized before any additional paving is put into the town.

Walk Or Bike To School

Residents have cited a growing child and adolescent obesity rate as a reason to encourage students to walk to school either from their homes or from a lot like that at Colony Pool. Bicycling, too, would be a way to encourage healthy habits among teens.

Some of the roads leading to the high school do not have sidewalks, and residents have said that putting in sidewalks would increase the overall safety of students. Residents would be responsible for shoveling the sidewalks outside of their home during the winter.

Green Space

The area where the proposed parking lot expansion would be located is south of the cafeteria, adjacent to the building and to the athletic fields east of the school buildings. According to a flier that has been circulated advocating other alternatives to the parking lot, paving in this location could lead to increased air pollution from both the asphault and the vehicle exhaust. A parking lot in such close proximity to the cafeteria and to athletic fields could have adverse effects on the health of the students, residents have said.

The flier also states that there is an "intrinsic and aesthetic value" in maintaining area as open green space that "many teenagers are not mature enough to appreciate."

Onstreet Parking

Several streets near Chatham High have ordinances which prohibit onstreet parking for more than two hours during the school day. Some residents say that these ordinances should be repealed to protect the green space that would be converted to a parking lot.

Increased Congestion

Parents, students and teachers of Chatham High School can all relate to the traffic congestion that clogs up Lafayette Avenue before and after school. Adding more parking spaces, some residents have said, would only attract more cars to the area. Directing some students to park at Colony would direct traffic away from the high school and make the area safer for drivers and pedestrians.