Mailbox
Parking Task Force Should Listen to Constituency, Not Dismiss Concerns
Encouraging Residents to Attend Virtual Meeting Regarding Parking
from overspill parking. Earlier versions of the Task Force’s recommendations proposed employee permit parking in the Western Section and the High School neighborhood. These recommendations were dropped only when residents of those neighborhoods strongly objected. Recently the Task Force added streets to the Tree Streets neighborhood that have never been considered part of the Tree Streets. Residents of those streets are strongly objecting. For more information, see the excellent website, sensiblestreets.org. Why should you oppose the “town-wide overnight parking” recommendation? The current informal system works well. The police receive an average of only 11 requests a day. The Task Force’s recommendation bureaucratizes, monetizes, and arbitrarily limits these requests, while actually increasing the burden on police. If the Task Force’s recommendations are approved by Council, the W-J and Tree Streets neighborhoods will be harmed, no residential neighborhood in Princeton will be safe from non-resident parking, and overnight parking will be more difficult. Attend the January 11 meeting and speak in opposition. PHYLLIS TEITELBAUM Hawthorne Avenue
13 • TOWN TOPICS, PRINCETON, N.J., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2022
businesses’ obligation to provide parking for their employees. Resources like the downtown parking garages and the Westminster Choir College are appropriate and should be vigorously pursued, and the residential streets left to be just that — residential. There is more to be said and considered. Many letters are out there and are still coming in. I strongly urge the PPTF to read them and truly give them the respect and consideration that they are due. BRUCE LAWTON To the Editor: Hawthorne Avenue I’d again like to make some comments regarding the Permit Parking Task Force and the odyssey that we, the community, have all been swept up in during this past year due to their efforts and actions. I’d like to preface this by stating that I can only imagine To the Editor: how crushing it must be at times to be dead set on someThe Permit Parking Task Force has issued a press release thing — put in the time and work on it — and then have with recommendations that it intends to propose to Princit met with mass criticism, opposition, and unpopularity. eton Council. These include an extremely controversial On this, the PPTF members have my sincere empathy. I’ve recommendation that employees of Princeton businesses been there in my own endeavors. receive permits to park on residential streets. If you live on With that said, it is vital, for the PPTF to actually listen a residential street in Princeton that is within 1/2 mile of to their constituency and not simply dismiss their concerns; Princeton businesses, your street is at risk. Many people confident their own opinions are 100 percent correct — also object to the Task Force’s town-wide overnight parkthus medicine that must just be accepted. I would ask ing recommendation. them to consider the tremendous strain their efforts have Fortunately, there will be a virtual public meeting, with put upon many in the community, who have felt under mayor and Council in attendance, to hear residents’ opinsiege throughout this past year. One would think that, ions. Be sure to attend and to speak in opposition to the with so many residents making their views and concerns Task Force’s recommendations. known — directly at meetings, as well as in public forums The meeting is on Tuesday, January 11, at 7 p.m. To and letters — that some heed would be paid, and that the obtain the link, on Monday, January 10, go to princetonnj. PPTF would’ve taken these strongly expressed concerns gov, click on Calendar, go to January 11 and click on Speinto account. Instead, it appeared that they were exceed- cial Council Meeting — Work Session on Permit Parking, ingly dismissive, stubbornly entrenched in their ideas, and click on More Details, then click on the link. determined to do what they pleased. They have demonWhy should you oppose the “employee permit parking” strated this repeatedly, through a lack of transparency and with a seeming vested interest in favoring the desires of recommendation? Because it will hurt the neighborhoods it claims to businesses over residents — all culminating in a decided disinterest in these expressed concerns. Their efforts to help. The recommendation applies to two residential push through with their plans during times when people neighborhoods (the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood were generally away — distracted in the summertime, and and the Tree Streets neighborhood) that have serious recently during the holidays — optically appear exceed- chronic parking problems. Their problems are caused by “overspill” parking — employees, customers, and other ingly disingenuous. While it’s refreshing to finally see that some effort has non-residents parking on residential streets. Obviously, to been made in response to the overwhelming pushback, it solve the problems, employees must park elsewhere, not is still troubling and not nearly enough. At best it needs in these neighborhoods. Because it is completely unnecessary. There is now an more work via actual concerted input from concerned and engaged residents; at worst it should be scrapped enormous supply of parking for employees within walking and begun anew with a fresh, more transparent process distance of businesses. A total of 370 spaces are available. and outlook that engenders trust. The fact that the plan There are 193 on the Westminster Choir College campus continues to include complicated conditional rules, which that the mayor and Council wisely arranged to rent. And charge residents for permits to park on their own streets the Task Force itself has identified 177 underutilized mein their own neighborhoods, is simply a non-starter and tered parking spaces to convert to parking for employees. needs to be scrapped. Because it will set a dangerous precedent that will Something simple and all-encompassing for the already hurt other residential neighborhoods in the future. Some over-extended taxpaying resident, along the lines of, say, members of the Task Force believe that all residential two gratis street permits per household, is what’s in or- neighborhoods should be forced to accept parking by der. It’s unacceptable to set a precedent of granting busi- employees and other non-residents. They want to abolish nesses permits to park on residential streets. It’s inap- restrictions like 2-hour parking and “resident permit propriate to view residential streets as a resource to solve parking only” that protect residential neighborhoods
Further Discussions Needed on Parking Lot Options for Business Employees
To the Editor: After reading the Town Topics article entitled “Permit Parking Task Force Revising Recommendations in Response to Feedback” (December 8, page 1), we were dismayed to read that off-street parking for employees of businesses was still being considered as a part of the proposal for the Tree Streets and Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhoods. This was a surprise particularly since the article described the exclusion of the Western Section (without any explanation for the reversal). We very much agree with the authors of “Revised Parking Proposal Should Not Single Out Residential Neighborhood for Employee Parking” featured in the December 22 Town Topics Mailbox. Particularly when it comes to the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, off-street parking is a significant challenge since many houses have shared or no driveways. We similarly question why off-street parking for business employees is being considered over identifying alternative surface lot options. In addition to the successful negotiation of securing 240 spaces within the Westminster Choir College and MacLean lots, perhaps discussions could also be initiated with Princeton University to use spaces within the new garage near Jadwin Gym. We applaud the efforts to secure off-street parking for Princeton residents (via permit parking), but believe further discussions need to continue to exhaust the surface lot options for employees of businesses. LANCE AND LATONYA LIVERMAN Witherspoon Street Continued on Next Page
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