On-Street Parking Permit to Require Proof of Need

The ordinance, up for final adoption Monday, would allow borough residents to park overnight on borough streets — but only if they can demonstrate the need.

Several conditions are attached to the proposed overnight on-street parking ordinance, up for approval by the Chatham Borough Council Monday. The Parking Committee deliberated for months over possibly allowing overnight parking on borough streets, according to a presentation on the ordinance given April 8 by outgoing Council President Len Resto. Most borough residences were built with driveway and garage space enough to fit one or two cars, but as time has passed many of those families have become families with two or more cars. Relatives move in, teenagers get a car when they get their license or college students come home for vacations and need to park. Resto said the committee came up with some restrictions to the ordinance they thought…

•  15 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)

School Ave. Turned Into One-Way Street

Township Committee approved traffic changes near Colony Pool despite a tentative agreement to pave parking lot.

In what was described as potentially a short-term solution to parking shortages near Colony Pool, the Chatham Township Committee unanimously approved an ordinance making School Avenue one-way from Spring Street to Floral Street and permitting limited parking on Spring Street during the summers. The new law allows on-street parking on the west side of Spring Street from Lafayette Avenue to Dale Drive from the Saturday before Memorial Day, when Colony Pool opens, until Labor Day, when the pool closes. 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. Signs will…

• Photos (1)

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." 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 …

•  4 Comments
• Photos (5)
• Documents (1)

Catharine

9:31 am on Thursday, April 25, 2013

Rather than abandoning an integral component of the Colony Pool and Recreation Complex (parking), the Township Committee should see how its neighboring towns have sought solutions to fiscal challenges of maintaining their pool complexes. Chatham Borough used a Non-binding Referendum Question on the general election ballot to determine the future of their Municipal Pool. (source: http://…   more ›

Gazebo May Stay With 'Modifications,' Mayor Says

PSE&G will not allow parking at the gazebo site, but could let the Chatham Township gazebo stay with other conditions.

Chatham Township Mayor Nicole Hagner said she believes PSE&G will agree to let the Chatham Township gazebo remain in its current spot. "We did have a follow-up meeting with PSE&G," Hagner said, "and I am pleased to be able to say we will likely be able to keep the gazebo at the location on Southern Boulevard, with modifications." The utility company has not specified what those modifications will be, but Hagner and Chatham Township Administrator Thomas E. Ciccarone said parking at the gazebo will definitely not be permitted. Ciccarone has also submitted an application to PSE&G to allow parking on the gravel lot at Colony Pool once more. "We have every reason to expect that that, too, will be approved, with conditions," Ciccarone said. The …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (14)

Downtown Parking Limit Could Rise to 90 Minutes

Chatham Borough considers ways to solve congestion issues.

The Chatham Borough Council will examine whether to extend on-street parking in the downtown area from 60 to 90 minutes. Councilman James Collander said the extension suggestion was made after speaking with multiple businesses downtown and surveying how parking is handled in surrounding towns. “It’s the pretty strong opinion of merchants downtown that people don’t have enough time to park, shop and eat,” Collander said. “It’s too confining within one hour. The extension of that period will really help the businesses downtown.” The conversation came after Councilman Len Resto discussed possible new approaches to the borough's on-street overnight parking issues. To address overnight parking needs, the borough may look into annual permits or …

• Photos (1)

Overnight Parking Permits, Coupons Considered

Chatham Borough council discussed permanent and temporary options for residents.

The Chatham Borough Council is looking at parking permits and coupon books as potential solutions to the municipality's overnight parking problem. Councilman Len Resto said, during the council’s Sept. 10 meeting, that the borough is looking for ways to balance the parking needs of Chatham while keeping the current “feel of Chatham,” enforced by an ordinance that does not allow street parking from 2 to 6 a.m. “We don’t want Chatham to have an urban feel, like Hoboken or Jersey City,” Resto said. “But we want to grant space to those residents who have legitimate parking issues.” Unlike 30 years ago when there might have been only one car per household, Resto said, many borough residents have up to four cars per house, while homes have space …

•  8 Comments
• Photos (1)

PSE&G: Gazebo, Parking at Pool Need to Go

Utility company prepares to begin construction of North Central Reliability Project.

Chatham Township Mayor Nicole Hagner said PSE&G "is terminating licensing agreements at Colony Pool and the gazebo on Southern Boulevard." The gazebo, Hagner said, will have to be moved from its current location, since Hagner said the utility company is "not willing" to have a structure in their right-of-way. "We're currently looking for a suitable location in the township," she said. The termination came two months before PSE&G is expected to begin construction on their North Central Reliability Project in Chatham. The company has already begun construction in some towns. Construction on the entire project is expected to last two to four years. Both areas also impact the School District of the Chathams, since the gazebo area is used as a …

• Photos (1)

New Borough Planner Suggests Changes to Business Parking

At her first meeting, Susan Blickstein presents potential parking improvement plan.

The Chatham Borough planning board’s new planner provided preliminary suggestions during the board’s meeting Wednesday night 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, would be put aside until a planner was hired. 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 …

• Photos (1)

You Ask ... Patch Answers

Why Is Borough Limiting On-Street Parking Near Middle School?

Congestion concerns spur changes to on-street parking on Dunbar Street.

Welcome to "You Ask … Patch Answers," the weekly column for Chathamites looking for solutions to community problems or issues. One reader asked: Why is the borough considering limiting the three hour parking rule near the middle school? On-street parking near Chatham Middle School effects the residents of the neighborhood, especially of Dunbar Street, Martin Place and Vincent Street. Residents have spoken up at meetings of the Borough Council, the Traffic Safety Commission meetings and the Planning Board saying that the current traffic situation creates a danger to middle school students and the children of the neighborhood. When Shehadi Rugs & Carpets relocated from their location at 400 Main St., owner John Shehadi made internal …

• Photos (2)

Steps Taken to Alleviate Parking Woes

8 spaces added to train station's northern lot, more to come.

Borough Administrator Robert Falzarano said Tuesday that some of the rules and regulations for the parking permits at the Chatham Train Station were not clearly outlined, including on some older permits themselves. Borough resident Caitlin Boyle brought the permit to the Borough Council meeting that she paid for three years ago after spending one year on the waiting list. She showed the council and Falzarano the back of the permit, where it states that the parking permit is only valid in the lot indicated on the front, and then the two letters "RR" on the front of her permit, indicating the railroad parking lot. "We were told we couldn't park anywhere else," Boyle said. "It said it in the application and it said it on the back of the …

• Photos (3)