District 3: Want Parking Plan?

It's expected that Point Beach Council will vote narrowly tonight to expand the summertime, overnight parking plan for non-residents into a portion of District 3.

Councilmember Stephen Reid said at the last meeting, on July 9, that there are some residents who live in the affected section of District 3 who do not want the parking plan that restricts parking from 12:30 a.m. to 4 a.m. during the summer. 

"Where are they, Stephen?" asked Mayor Vincent Barrella, noting that residents have not been expressing any such opposition at council meetings.

However, there have been a number of residents who have spoken at meetings in favor of the parking plan in both districts, saying there has been a lot less noise, litter, public urination and other disturbances in their neighborhoods since the parking plan was first implemented last summer, as well as this year, when the parking plan was reinstated on May 15. In mid-June, the town had to briefly suspend the parking plan due to a court ruling.

Reid and Councilmembers Andy Cortes and William Mayer voted against the District 3 proposal, which narrowly passed at the July 9 meeting.

District 3 is south of the center of Arnold Avenue and east of the railroad tracks. 

The portion to be included in the parking plan is described in the ordinance as follows: "District Three Area shall be defined as that area of the Borough bordered on the north by the south side of Arnold Avenue, on the west by the west side of Saint Louis Avenue, on the south by the south side of Forman Avenue and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, with the exception that no portion of Arnold or Ocean Avenues shall be subject to this Ordinance."

The town was compelled to briefly suspend the parking plan after Superior Court Judge Vincent Grasso, sitting in Toms River, ruled in mid June that Michael Corbally had a conflict of interest when he voted as a councilman for the parking plan ordinance because he is a Realtor in District 4.

Corbally resigned on June 20, the day after learning of the Grasso ruling. Prior to the ruling and resignation, Corbally had planned to run for reelection. Now he says he will decide whether to run after he sees if the ruling will withstand the appeal filed by the town.

The parking plan in both districts calls for residents and property taxpayers to receive parking placards to place in their cars so they would not be subject to the parking plan restrictions. Also, businesses in the parking plan zones receive parking placards for employees.

At the last meeting, council voted narrowly for an ordinance on first reading to expand the parking plan into a section of District 3 and they had also voted that night nearly unanimously for a separate ordinance to reinstate the parking plan in most of District 4. 

The lone exception was that Councilmember Kristine Tooker recused herself on the District 4 ordinance because she was attending the meeting via teleconference and Barrella had a concern that may be called into question by Martell's and others litigating against the parking plan. 

However, Tooker has consistently been a strong supporter of the parking plan in both districts. She voted for the District 3 ordinance at the request of Barrella because, otherwise, the ordinance would not have passed on first reading.

District 4 is north of the center of Arnold Avenue and east of the railroad tracks. Nearly all of it, except for the northern section in the fishing and Manasquan Inlet area, is included in the parking plan, which starts south of Broadway.

The Ocean County Freeholders will not allow Point Beach to implement any parking plan on county roads, which are: Ocean, Chicago, Baltimore, Arnold, Atlantic, Washington, Broadway, River, Bay and Trenton. County Administrator Carl Block has said that because all county residents pay for county road maintenance, all county residents should have full access to them.

With the return of the parking plan has come the return of free parking in the Silver Lake lot, on Ocean and Arnold avenues, from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. during the summer. 

To see the full text of the District 3 ordinance, see this page of the municipal website.

To see the full text of the adopted District 4 ordinance, see this page of the municipal website.