Politics & Government

Oversold Parking Permits 'Outrageous'

Borough residents face crowded lots at Chatham Train Station.

Chatham resident Caitlin Boyle commutes to New York City for work. She drives from her borough home to the train station and takes a train at 9:27 a.m. Lately, though, she's had to struggle to find a parking space.

"This fall I've been noticing that the lot was fuller and fuller and fuller," Boyle said. "The last two weeks it's been full every time. I had to park illegally, not dangerously, but at the end of the row which isn't an actual spot."

As a result, she said Thursday, she's been ticketed three times.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Borough Administrator Robert J. Falzarano said the borough routinely oversells parking permits for the train station lot, and this summer the borough oversold more than usual because the lot was so empty. There are currently 385 permits issued to residents for the train station. Thirty of those were approved between late spring and mid-summer (twenty in May, ten in July) when Falzarano noticed numerous vacant spots.

According to Falzarano, there are 200 spots available for resident permit parking at the train station. Borough Engineer Vincent DeNave will restripe the lot at the station to provide for eight additional spaces by early next week.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

There are three overflow lots at Bowers Lane, Center Street East near the Chatham Playhouse and Center Street West near Café Beethoven, which provide 65, 51 and 28 spaces each, according to Falzarano. After the restriping, the four lots together will provide 352 spaces for permit holders.

"If we didn't have the overflow [parking], that's a big issue," Falzarano said, "but we do have overflow."

The lots at Bowers Lane and both sides of Center Street also sell their own permits to resident commuters, businesses and apartment dwellers. The 2010 cost for those permits is $185, and for the train station lot the cost of the permit is $355.

Falzarano said Thursday that there were already 60 permits sold for the Bowers Lane lot and 74 for both Center Street lots. A significant number of those permits, Falzarano said, are for apartment dwellers whose utilization of the lots is not the same as commuters or businesses. Still, that makes 519 permits for 352 parking spaces in four lots.

Boyle said she's outraged that she's being told to park in another lot further away where the permit costs almost half as much as the one she paid for. "That's not what I paid $350 for," she said (Boyle's permit, purchased three years ago after a year on the waiting list, cost $350 at that time.) "They're selling spots that they know can't be delivered on."

The permit rules and regulations say, "Possession of a valid permit does not guarantee a permit holder an empty Permit space."

In addition to the 200 spaces for permit parking, the train station lot also has 200 spaces designated as fee parking. Drivers can purchase a daily permit or pay a metered fee, using borough Smart Cards. The permit rules say, "Permits are not valid for metered parking spaces in the event a Permit Parking space is unavailable. However, you may park at the Bowers Lane, Center Street East or West lots."

Boyle said in an e-mail, "What kills me about this is, A) I was never told there was a situation. They never told us they oversold the lots—we just suddenly found no spots and tickets on our windshields. B) I have no remedy. … Until this is sorted out I will get a ticket every day. That's outrageous."

Falzarano said he will not authorize any more parking permits until the number subsides. "As people leave the borough or they don't need the permit anymore, the number drops," he said. "I think the number that works best is around the 350 or 360 number. That's the number where we'll fill up the lots with the minimum amount of inconvenience to the permit holders."

Falzarano has a view of the train station parking lot from his office window, and at least once a day he goes out and counts how many spaces are available in all four lots. He keeps a list in a folder on his desk with the dates and the number of empty spaces. At around 10:10 a.m. Thursday, he said, there were two spaces left at the train station, 28 at Bowers Lane, 11 at the Center Street East lot and four at the Center Street West lot.

"These lots do not all fill up during the day. I certainly have not seen that happen," Falzarano said.

Mayor Nelson Vaughan said that he passes the Center Street West lot between his Elmwood Avenue home and downtown Chatham regularly. "I drive past the Center Street West lot several times I day. I've never, ever seen it full," he said.

The Borough Council next meets on Tuesday, and Boyle said she plans to be there. She also has a court date to contest her tickets on Oct. 19.

"God knows what'll happen when I go to court, but I'm totally going to fight it," she said. She's called the parking department at the Borough Municipal Building, has spoken to the ticketing officer and has e-mailed the mayor about the matter.

"There needs to be more outrage about it," she said, "and I image there's going to be more outrage when people realize that these places are vanishing, that they're gone."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here