New Planner Analyzes Restaurant Parking

The Chatham Borough planning board’s new planner provided preliminary suggestions during the board’s meeting on May 18 on how to improve the borough’s parking standards.

In her first meeting as planner, Susan Blickstein discussed points she had made across two memos to board members.

In the memos, Blickstein analyzed the result of a 2009 study of Chatham’s six business zones and then offered her suggestions. Board members had decided last year that the study, executed by the Taylor Design Group, .

Discussion of the parking standards for non-residential uses, which Blickstein focused on in one of the memos, dominated most of the conversation.

“You will see areas [in the memo] where I actually suggest something that’s a little bit different, but I really tried to build on the work that was previously done with respect to the recommendations for parking standards,” she said.

Restaurant Parking

Blickstein gave a tentative suggestion, which was verbally supported by Board President Rich Crater, to give restaurants in the business district a full exemption from parking re-analysis if they choose to physically expand and do so by 500 square feet or less.

“I don’t know how often you have physical expansions of restaurants,” Blickstein said. “It’s not likely to happen very often. My gut is they would be fairly small expansions if they did happen.”

Councilman and board member Bruce Harris said he thinks restaurants are a beneficial use and that the board’s decision should work to encourage retaining them.

“Their presence makes the downtown much more lively,” Harris said.

Crater agreed, saying the restaurants help drive traffic into the borough.

Blickstein suggested that the board give the suggestion some thought, admitting that the expansion scenario is not often triggered.