Last July, Princeton Council created a task force to review and help harmonize existing parking ordinances from the former Borough and Township. Prominent on the task force’s list of issues is overnight parking.

The topic raises hackles because the existing ordinances allow some residents to park overnight while others, who may live on the same block, need to purchase a permit in order to do so. Council, intent on creating a new ordinance that is fair and reflects a consolidated community, heard three possibilities Monday night.

Assistant municipal engineer Deanna Stockton detailed the options for the governing body: Leave the boundaries as they are, adjust them slightly, or make no overnight parking a town-wide implementation.

Council members concurred that more input from the public is needed before an ordinance is crafted. “First,” said Ms. Stockton, “we want to discuss what the boundaries would be. Then we would move ahead with looking at the criteria for issuing permits and creating permit areas.”

In the former Borough, residents could purchase a permit for a fee. In the former Township, there was no fee payment required. That alone created “some fundamental unfairness,” said Mayor Liz Lempert. “This is something important for us to address because obviously right now you have a situation where the former dividing line goes through the middle of some blocks. You have some neighbors having to pay for their permit and others are getting it for free.”

If overnight parking were to be banned town-wide, “It would eliminate this idea that my neighbor has it and I don’t,” said Council member Jo Butler. Her colleague Lance Liverman spoke out against such a measure. “It would make us seem unfriendly,” he said. “There are elderly people who have caregivers who park on the street. I can understand doing it in some areas, but for the whole town, it seems like overkill.”

Mr. Liverman said he favors option two, which would entail adjusting the boundaries. Other Council members agreed. But Council President Bernie Miller remarked that there will be people who have problems with all three of the options, though he saw merits to each approach.

“There will probably be people who will say don’t change anything, because that’s the way it has always been,” he said, “and others who can see some unfairness in the present situation, and others perhaps who can see how the present situation has been abused a bit and will look for a change.”

Maple Street resident Steven Griffies suggested initiating a one-car-per-residence option, with a costly fee for those who retain a second vehicle. He also asked Council to consider rules about daytime parking as well. Skillman resident Charles Gordon, a realtor currently trying to market a home on Murray Place, said the current ordinance has turned away potential buyers.

“Almost every family I have shown the house to has two cars,” he said. “I can’t sell it because of the parking ordinance.” Mr. Gordon added that he has done some research and concluded that residences without driveways or garages should be given parking permits.

Mayor Lempert said an ordinance will likely be put together using the second option, and that it will be introduced at Council’s first meeting in June with ample opportunity for feedback from the public. “This is a big one, so we want to be sure to get some public comment,” she said.