Borough Council Raises Permit Fees For Parking on Streets and in Lots

Myrna K. Bearse

Borough Council has voted to increase the cost of overnight parking on Borough streets for residents who don't have a driveway to $30 per quarter from the previous $22.50 a quarter. The fee hike was included in an ordinance that also raised fees for other types of permit parking.

At a recent meeting of Mayor and Council, John Street resident Cathleen Carroll asked that residents without driveways be allowed to park 24 hours on their streets.

"We're residents. Other towns don't have a problem issuing resident parking permits," she said.

In response, Councilman David Goldfarb said, "If we allowed everyone without a driveway to park all day, it would eat significantly into the inventory of available spaces."

Borough officials have long contended that an absence of cars parked overnight on Bo- rough Streets improves police surveillance, and that an ea- sing in the current parking situation would result in ¬Princeton University students flooding Borough streets with cars.

Ms. Carroll also objected to the extent of the increase in the Maclean Street parking lot, which does permit 24-hour parking. This fee has gone from $10 to $25 a month, Council members noted that it had been a very long time since this fee had been raised.

Up until the revised ordinance was passed, holders of overnight parking permits were allowed to park only on the Borough street on which they lived. New language has been added that allows physically disabled residents to park on an adjacent street when they live on a street that does not permit any overnight parking.

Martin Lombardo, a resident of Nassau Street near the intersection with Harrison Street, had come to an earlier Council meeting to request that this exception to the ordinance be included to meet the needs of handicapped individuals.

The revised ordinance also increases rates for a number of other parking permits issued by the Borough. Permits to park on municipal lots, which are not restricted to residents without driveways, will go up to $25 a month from $10 a month. These can be used in the Tulane Street and Park Place East and West lots.

Parking is also available in the Maclean Street lot for employees of Borough businesses. For $30 a month an employee may park up to 12 hours a day in the lot. This fee has not been changed.

A $15 increase, to $25 a month, will be charged those residents who use the 24-hour lot on North Harrison Street.

The ordinance also increases the cost of guest parking permits. Residents have been able to buy guest permits that allow parking in municipal lots for $5 per week, with a limit of four weeks a year. The ordinance raises the fee to $10 per week, but permits the purchase of six guest permits annually.