Township engineer Len Lepore explains the new parking regulations at the Sept. 19 Township Council meeting. At right is Councilwoman Michelle Casalino, who was the sole council member to vote against the ordinance.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Township Council approved an ordinance on final reading that eliminates alternate side parking on Franklin Avenue between Chestnut Street and the Montclair Township line at its Sept. 19 meeting. The change will allow for more parking for residents on Franklin Avenue and the surrounding side streets, with accommodations made to allow for weekly street cleaning and snow plowing when needed. The vote passed 4-1, with Councilwoman Michelle Casalino being the only opposing vote.
Parking is now permitted on the west side of Franklin Avenue, except for Monday street cleaning from 9 a.m. to noon from Cherry Street to the Montclair Township line; it is permitted on the east side of Franklin Avenue, except for Friday, from 9 a.m. to noon from Chestnut Street to the Montclair Township line, for the same reason.
According to township engineer Len Lepore, 40 households on Franklin Avenue were surveyed about the possibility of changing the parking situation on the street. Of the 40 notices sent out, 32 came back to the engineering department. Eighteen were in favor of eliminating alternate side parking and 14 supported keeping it in place.
“We did not go onto the side streets. If you notice a theme here tonight, if you were against this regulation you strictly came from Franklin Avenue,” Lepore said at the meeting, referring to residents from the affected neighborhood who were at the meeting to either support or oppose the ordinance. “If you were in favor of it, you came from the side streets. So I have little doubt what would have happened if we polled the side streets. For Franklin Avenue, the results were slightly in favor and based on that we advanced this ordinance.”
Lepore said that High Street, which is three blocks east of where the parking changes will take place, is 36 feet wide, the same as Franklin Avenue. He said that a number of years ago the town began to allow parking on both sides of the street, similar to what was proposed for Franklin Avenue.
“They’re similar width streets, both 36 feet wide, both addressing a parking problem,” Lepore said. “This was something that didn’t require anything else in the way of changing street patterns or one-way streets. Of all the streets in the neighborhood in addition to High Street, this was one street where we believe we could allow additional parking on both sides without a lot of other traffic changes and have it benefit the neighborhood.”
Melgily Valdez is a resident of Elm Street who was in agreement with the new parking ordinance.
“We’ve always had this issue,” Valdez said about the lack of parking on Elm Street and the side streets parallel to it. “I work full time and I also go to law school in the evening, so when I’m getting back from school there’s no parking. It’s really a safety issue for me because if I’m parking far away I have to walk to my house on Elm. I think this would alleviate the problem.”
Another resident who was in favor of the parking ordinance is Randalin Page, a resident of Kirk Street. She said that the current situation is not effective anymore, and having another side of the street to park on would be helpful.
“One side of the street is not working anymore,” Page said at the meeting. “There’s so many families moving into West Orange. I’ve been here for almost 20 years and I’ve never seen it like this. There’s people from other blocks parking on Kirk Street. We need both sides of the street to be available for parking.”
Liliana Ortiz, a Franklin Avenue resident, opposed the ordinance with concerns about safety. She said that she sees cars speeding on the street often, and is concerned how the change will affect traffic.
“It’s not because I don’t have parking, I do,” Ortiz said at the meeting. “It’s just because if we park on both sides, the space will be limited. Right now we have a lot of speeding but if we park on both sides, what’s going to happen next? I have kids playing outside all the time.”
Manuel Vega is another Franklin Avenue resident who does not support the ordinance. He also had safety concerns that he believed would not be helped by residents parking on both sides of the street.
“We have a driveway so we don’t use the street a lot,” Vega said at the meeting. “But if people can park on both sides it gets loud, and we have kids playing in the driveway. I would appreciate if you guys considered not changing it. I’m in agreement with the way it is now.”
Casalino also had safety and traffic concerns about Franklin Avenue, which Lepore said were not much different than High Street.
There is more traffic on Franklin Avenue, Lepore said, “but High Street also goes into Montclair, and I’ve gotten complaints about the volume of traffic on High Street as well.”
Casalino ultimately voted against the ordinance because of those safety concerns, in addition to wanting to try allowing only overnight parking on both sides of the street first. The parking ordinance will be reevaluated six months from now.
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