By Anne Levin

Following a March 1 work session in which numerous residents raised objections to plans by Princeton’s Permit Parking Task Force to help regulate disparate parking rules, Princeton Council agreed to pass along the recommendations to administrative and legal staff for review.

The task force, which has been working on the issue since 2019, has refined its proposals to include only the Witherspoon-Jackson and Tree Streets neighborhoods, where parking is particularly problematic. The task force dropped previous recommendations for some paid employee parking in the Murray Place/Princeton Avenue area. Plans for non-resident permit parking in the Western Section and high school neighborhoods had already been removed from the proposal.

Recommendations call for employee parking permits to be made available at underused on-street meters and at the Maclean Street and Westminster Choir College lots. “For all residential neighborhoods with moderate parking demand from nearby uses (whether such uses be commercial, private institutional, or public school), institute a two-or three-hour time limit for parking available to all,” the plan reads. One free residential 24-hour permit should be issued for residents without off-street parking. Those residents, and those with a single-car driveway, can also get a paid, 24-hour permit for $240 a year.

The task force also addressed overnight parking throughout town, and parking on Bank Street. Further details of the plan are available at princetonnj.gov.

There was heated criticism from residents of the neighborhoods that are currently exempt. One Western Section homeowner accused the task force of corruption. Another made charges of conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency, and called the terms of the proposal deliberately vague. A Library Place resident said she has lost trust in local government, and that task forces are inherently flawed because they allow special interest groups to take over the town. A Hawthorne Avenue resident said meetings are kept secret.

Councilmember Leighton Newlin disagreed with this portrayal of the task force. “We many not always make decisions you agree with, but trust me when I tell you there is no one on staff, Council, or the mayor that doesn’t do the best we can for the town of Princeton,” he said. “The people who are not going to be a part of this, stay on the sidelines and let’s stop with the dart-throwing. Tone down the rhetoric and animosity and the vitriol with the way we treat each other.”

Task force member Scott Goldsmith, who represents Princeton Public Schools, said he takes issue with “opponents who for some reason think there are back-door agendas and plans. It’s not the case.” Property owner and former Councilmember Lance Liverman said he hopes the task force will continue its work on “an almost no-win situation.” Many towns have off-site parking and shuttle employees in, and that could work in Princeton, he said. “Please keep the task force intact and do what you’re doing.”

Alexi Assmus, who lives in the Tree Streets neighborhood, said there are very different situations and requirements in different parts of town, making the task force’s efforts to harmonize rules of the former Borough and Township misleading. She spent two days photographing cars on Maple Street every two hours, and saw variations from one end of the street to the other. The task force should have directed people to the Princeton University lots on the other side of Nassau Street, where parking is free and available on weekends, she said.

Rob Dodge of Maple Street said he is opposed to the “vague and unharmonized parking plan,” and suggested that recommending the permit plan for the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood while excluding the high school, Western Section, and Murray Place/Princeton Avenue areas perpetuates Princeton’s “200-year history of dumping things on neighborhoods that maybe do not have the ability to stand up to Council.”

Marco Gottardis, who lives on Harris Road, said he is opposed to having the task force continue as it is presently constituted for another year, because there is not enough transparency or diversity of opinion. “Where is the data? For the conclusions the task force has made, we have gotten very minimal types of data and nothing quantitative,” he said. “Our government should not be in the business of subsidizing parking for employees.”

The issue of whether the task force should continue was raised by Councilmember Mia Sacks, who said that any long-term task force operates outside the rules of established boards and commissions. Mayor Mark Freda said it was a matter for a regular Council meeting, as this was a special work session on the permit parking report.

Chip Crider of Bank Street said he appreciates the time the task force has put in. “I like the idea of taking this slowly,” he said. “But start with giving people without driveways one permit, not the chance to buy a second one. Then, see how many spaces are available.” He added that he worries what will happen when the lot at Westminster Choir College is no longer available.

The municipality is currently accepting applications from business owners for employee parking in the Westminster lot, where there are 193 spaces that will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis for a monthly fee of $30. Business owners can apply and pay for up to 10 permits for their employees.

The next Council meeting is Monday, March 14 at 7 p.m.