By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – As the downtown gets busier with the return of Broadwalk and new developments spring up around town, parking issues remain a constant topic of discussion for the borough council.
At a regular meeting of the governing body May 31, the council adopted an ordinance that would shift parking spaces from the west side of Spring Street south of Harding Road to the east side of the street.
Spring Street begins at East Front Street, cuts across Harding Road and merges with Branch Avenue at its southern end.
Currently, vehicles are allowed to park on the west side of the entire street, but the ordinance adopted Wednesday will restrict parking to the east side of Spring Street from Harding Road to its end at Branch Avenue.
Parking hours on Highland Avenue, which is located next to Green Tree Apartments on Spring Street, will also be limited to three hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The “problem of Spring Street is at night,” Donald Ellis of Highland Avenue said. Spring Street has “gotten a lot busier over time,” he added, especially during the summer. “(There are) a lot of vehicles coming up and down that street now.” Ellis asked the council to table the ordinance for a discussion so residents can have the opportunity to voice their opinions on “potential options.”
Mayor Billy Portman said there were two separate issues: “One is the safety on Spring Street and then the other is the lack of parking on Highland (Avenue).”
John Dykeman, a resident of Spring Street, said moving the parking spaces from west to east is not the best solution. He suggested the council “ban overnight commercial vehicle parking.” Dykeman said that would help everyone, no matter the side of the street.
Highland Avenue resident Anne Amato complained about abandoned vehicles on the street and echoed similar safety concerns about Spring Street voiced by other residents.
However, Alberto Larotonda, a resident of Spring Street for the past 30 years said the council needs to “go forward” with the decision. “I personally have witnessed, not recently, over the years, many collisions on Spring Street, sometimes in the evening. One spectacular one where a car literally flipped onto its side,” he said. The council needs to take the “first step” and “everything else is the fine-tuning that can be done.”
Police chief and borough administrator Darren McConnell said Spring Street residents could obtain a sticker for “resident parking” for exemption from time-restricted parking on the street.
“We have a crash history there,” McConnell explained, telling residents that the parking decision was not based on an isolated incident.
With the council vote split 3-3, Portman cast a tie-breaking “yes” vote to adopt the ordinance amending parking on Spring Street.
Open Public Records Access
An ordinance proposed to set fees for Open Public Records Access (OPRA) requests made by the public to the Red Bank Police Department failed to move forward at the meeting.
The police department already provides documents and reports to the public with “no service fee 99% of the time,” McConnell said, but officers are now “getting flooded” with requests for body-worn camera footage from people who generally place these videos on social media. “The most egregious is one who wants every DWI so they can post it to YouTube,” McConnell said. “It literally took one of our officers three days to redact enough video for one DWI arrest.”
According to McConnell, officers are either working overtime on these requests or “being taken off the road” to produce the videos. He noted that the New Jersey state statute allows municipalities or any government entity to charge special service fees for OPRA requests, and the proposed ordinance would require the council to determine how the fees would be calculated.
During the public comment period, McLaren Street resident Linda Hill said that she appreciates the “significant efforts” borough employees have made to help residents access information, but she was concerned that increased fees could restrict access to public information for those unable to afford those fees. She requested that the council ensure that “people who have a genuine need and interest to access something are able to do so.”
Councilmember Kate Triggiano approved the request to amend the ordinance but since her motion was not seconded, the ordinance failed to proceed.
Senior Center
The senior center is ready to reopen at its newly renovated and repaired original location at 80 Shrewsbury Ave. The senior center had been closed due to damages from a pipe break in February 2019. Councilmember Ed Zipprich announced that the grand opening for the center will take place Friday, June 9. The council acknowledged the efforts of former council member Cindy Burnham in providing landscaping and restoration, particularly for uncovering the stone steps in the backyard that lead down to the river.
The center is requesting donations such as pool cues, billiard balls and cue chalk, books and puzzles, file cabinets and more. A complete list of items can be found in the borough’s newsletter, Scuttlebutt, or residents can email jreynolds@redbanknj.org for more information.
The article originally appeared in the June 8 – 14, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
