Should Certain Vehicles Have to Pay to Park at the Little Street Lot in Matawan?
The borough council has been discussing different ways to monetize commercial vehicle parking, as well as some residential parking, at the lot at Little Street and Broad Street.
Parking at the lot on Little Street and Broad Street in Matawan may not remain free for everyone.
The Matawan Borough Council is toying with the idea of implementing a parking ordinance that would require commercial vehicles and certain residential vehicles to purchase a parking permit for the lot. The idea of such an ordinance was discussed during the worshop portion of the council's Oct. 2 meeting.
For commercial vehicles, permit for the parking lot would cost $30 a month per vehicle, or $360 a year, according to Mayor Paul Buccellato. Commercial vehicles would be limited to passenger vehicles and vans, and trucks or trailers would be prohibited. For residential vehicles, who use the lot to park their car instead of parking along Broad Street, a permit would cost $50 a year.
If the ordinance were passed, certain parking spots would be marked by the Department of Works to indicate that they were for permitted vehicles only. Other spots would remain free for patrons of local businesses.
"We're not restricting it, we're not putting any parking meters in but any business that is utilizing [the lot] for the benefit of their business will [pay a fee]," Buccellato said.
Over the last several months, the council has discussed different ways to control the number of commercial vehicles stored there by local businesses, as well as residents who use the lot for extra parking near their home.
Several single family houses along Broad Street lack driveways.
"I think it solves the problem because it gives us the control we need, some extra revenue for that area and allows the residents to know that they can have a spot but it's not really free" said Councilwoman Linda Clifton. "They didn't buy that spot when they bought that home."
Buccellato feels this will help local businesses by ensuring that there is free parking available to their customers.
"A storeowner on Main Street, any of his clients or customers will not be prohibited from utilizing any borough parking lot and will not charged any kind of metering fee or fee to park there," he said. "On the other hand, a business that is utilizing borough property for the benefit of their business, we're looking at charging."
At the end of the discussion, Buccellato asked Pasquale Menna, the borough's attorney, to draft an ordinance for the council to consider at a future meeting.
What do you think? Will this help or hurt business? Vote in our poll and weigh in below in the comments section.
Gina Haber
12:30 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
Isn't this area "unofficially" the parking lot for all the Car Service business on Little Street. These vehicles seem to occupy the majority of the spaces.
They should be set up for FREE Parking for shoppers for our local business. If our town would get it's act together and help create a more prosperous business Main St., this is the ideal parking area for consumers.
JosephGhabourLaw
12:44 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
Dealing with parking issues is always a balancing act. Parking fees need to be part of a solution oriented process. Both residents and businesses alike expect parking in that area. I hope that this proposal is found equally fair by both sides
Aberdeen Guy
12:46 pm on Friday, October 5, 2012
This lot should be for customers and patrons of the businesses of matawan. It should not be a free lot for local cab drivers. There should also be a limit for how long you can park there.
Agree with Mystified. Hopefully one day the town will get it's act together and attract people to main street. Most towns would have paved this lot ugly parking lot, put up a nice sign indicating it's a lot for customers of main street, and even created a nice walkway with some landscaping between the lot and main street. Matawan doesn't seem to understand this though.
Barzillai
2:23 am on Sunday, October 7, 2012
Indeed, this surely has to do with the cab company using the Little Street lot. If the borough puts enough caveats on the ordinance, I'm sure they can get what they want out of this. The cabbie wars would be amusing if there wasn't such bias involved.
BrianaStar
3:44 pm on Thursday, October 11, 2012
First thing first, fix downtown then maybe there will actually be a reason to have free parking. That will be the first step in generating revenue for the town.. This council is so out of touch with the real issues around here.
Barzillai
9:36 pm on Thursday, October 11, 2012
Did you ever play Rollercoaster Tycoon? If you don't buy advertising, build concession stands, and hire people to clean the park, you can build all the big rides you want and you'll still lose the game. There are a lot of moving parts in running a municipality. The borough's leadership doesn't have a comprehensive plan or they're not implementing it effectively. It's clear that they don't have an overall plan to grow the borough. And the intensity of effort isn't visible. A lot of little patches don't make a plan.