Politics & Government

District 4 Parking Plan Passed by Point Beach Council

Mayor says plan might be expanded into District 3

Parking on residential streets in District 4 will soon be off limits during the summer overnight hours except for taxpayers, now that a new parking plan has been narrowly passed by Point Beach Council at Tuesday night's meeting at

The plan does not allow parking on residential streets in District 4 from midnight to 6 a.m. except for taxpayers, or those they share with, who have parking placards from the town, from the Monday before Memorial Day to the Monday after Labor Day, said Councilman Michael Corbally, who had initially proposed the plan.

District 4's boundaries are the ocean on the east, the New Jersey Transit Railroad Tracks on the west, the Manasquan River and Inlet on the north and the north side of Arnold Avenue on the south.

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Councilmembers William Mayer, Tim Lurie and Stephen Reid voted against adopting the parking plan ordinance on second reading. Councilmembers Kristine Tooker, Corbally, Bret Gordon and Mayor Vincent Barrella voted for it.

Barrella only votes when there is a tie.

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Barrella said the parking ordinance is to help prevent a repeat of last summer when drunks were strolling through residential neighborhoods early in the morning, frequently being loud and unruly and urinating and vomiting on people's lawns.

Police have said that weekends last summer were the worst in the past 17 years in terms of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and petty crime.

During a meeting that went on for a few hours, the council voted 4 to 3 for the parking plan, which calls for each taxpayer to receive five transferable parking placards.

The placards can be shared with tenants or visitors.

If lost, taxpayers can ask Municipal Business Administrator Christine Riehl for a new one, said Corbally after the meeting.

"We'll work it out," said Corbally.

Mayor Vincent Barrella said after the meeting that he may ask the council to pass a measure to help prevent a parking problem from seeping into District 3, which was a concern raised by some residents who spoke during the meeting.

"If there are problems with the first few streets in District 3, I'd like the ability to adjust and adapt," Barrella said.

The measure was one of two opposed by some local businesses. Representatives of Jenkinson's and Martell's said after the meeting they did not have an immediate comment regarding the parking plan or the ordinances that were passed Tuesday night.

Mayer and Reid said the parking problem should be addressed through greater police enforcement which they feel will be possible this summer since at least 40 new special officers are being added to the local police ranks.

Mayer also said that in for a townwide plan, voters in the first three districts voted no.

He said, "If you asked District 3 voters if they wanted a parking plan in District 4 only, they wouldn't have said no, they would have said 'Hell, no.'  I think it will hurt tourism. You deal with this through enforcement. You put a cop on every corner, have zero tolerance, keep giving out tickets until word gets out that this will not be tolerated."

Mayer and Gordon have recently been having private negotiation sessions with Jenkinson's and Martell's representatives to try to come up with mutually-agreeable ways for the businesses to continue operating at a level acceptable to owners along with helping the town pay for police services and helping to cut down on loud, rowdy behavior by some in residential neighborhoods this summer.

When asked after the meeting if the negotiations yielded any useful results, Mayer said, "An offer was made, but I don't think that's going to happen now."

He said boardwalk business owners had offered a substantial sum of money, to be paid on an annual basis, to help address the town's financial needs to support police and other services.

Mayer would not say what the amount is because it was offered in private negotiations.

"The negotiations assumed that these two ordinances would not pass," he said, referring to the ordinances regarding earlier bar closings and the District 4 parking plan.

He also cited a letter written by a Jenkinson's attorney (see attachment) saying there will be no more negotiations as long as the town is considering the two ordinances.

"I think the negotiations are over and I don't think that offer of a payment still stands after the votes tonight," he said.


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