News
Parking Meter Proposal Off The Table In RB
By John Burton
RED BANK - An ordinance proposing to increase parking meter hours is off the table - for now.
Mayor Pasquale Menna said at Tuesday's Borough Council meeting that the proposed ordinance would be tabled for the rest of the year, as borough officials continue to talk with members of the downtown business community to reach some accord.
Menna said the discussions have been "very fruitful" and the "constructive dialogue" with the various stakeholders is expected to continue before this or a similar ordinance reappears.
The ordinance, introduced at the Nov. 23 meeting, would change parking meter hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. six days a week. Metered parking is not in effect on Sundays.
The business community has always objected to parking meters in the downtown area and opposed aggressive enforcement that now costs overtime parkers $38 per incident.
Business owners say that it is an impediment to business, given the borough's chronic parking shortfall in the eastside downtown area. When the extended meter hours idea was announced, the business community and its management arm, Red Bank RiverCenter, immediately made it clear they were opposed, especially given the tenuous nature of the economy.
Because of the economic climate, Menna acted earlier this year to suspend the meters on Saturdays to help local businesses.
That move, however, created a $375,000 budget shortfall, which officials hoped this ordinance would help rectify, Borough Council President Arthur V. Murphy III said last week.
This week, "We went back to the drawing board for a comprehensive review," Menna said following the meeting.
Nancy Adams, executive director for RiverCenter, which oversees and advocates for the borough's business special improvement district, said she concurred with Menna's assessment of the conversations.
RiverCenter representatives met last Friday with Menna, Murphy and Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels, where, the officials raised the issue of budgetary shortfall.
"We appreciate and understand that," Adams said. "However, we want to discuss with them alternatives that can both meet their needs and not too adversely affect the business district." The business owners would like to see the free Saturdays continue, as it has led to more customer foot traffic, retailers have told Adams. As an alternative, Adams suggested the cost of meters be doubled for the current 10 hours instead of adding the two additional hours.
The longer meter hours may have a negative impact on restaurants and nightspots, an increasingly important portion of the business pie, Adams explained.
RiverCenter would like to see more talk of expanding the use of the prepaid "smartcards" for the meters, possibly by installing automated kiosks at various sites as another means of heightening awareness of the cards and bringing in additional revenue, Adams said.
Another matter Adams hopes to raise, is reducing the parking ticket cost to make the community more shopper friendly.
"Those are the things we're trying to work out," Menna said of the various ideas being discussed. But the reduction of the parking tickets for now, "is not on the table," Menna added.
