Boro looks to resolve student-parking issue
Many raise concerns about students parking on residential streets
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

Sayreville

SAYREVILLE - High school students who lost parking spaces due to ongoing school construction will soon be prohibited from parking on nearby residential streets.

In response to complaints from residents of those streets, and safety concerns, borough officials will force students to either leave their cars at nearby parks and walk to Sayreville War Memorial High School or use another means of getting to school.

Mayor Kennedy O'Brien last week called for parking on Eric Court to be restricted to residents who live there and their visitors, at least during school hours. O'Brien, in a memorandum, asked the borough attorney to draw up a specific permit parking ordinance for Eric Court. Officials later said Jeffrey Court may be added to the ordinance.

This would prohibit nonresidents of the street from parking there during the high school's hours of 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Police Chief John Garbowski said the parking congestion on Eric Court has been a hazard since students began parking their cars on the streets during the $47 million high school renovation project, which began in September and will conclude in 2009. More than a hundred parking spots were lost to the construction.

O'Brien told the Suburban that he hoped the ordinance would be introduced this week and adopted by the Borough Council in early December. It would take effect two weeks later.

"It is a temporary ordinance, while the high school is under construction," O'Brien said, adding that it will be reviewed when construction is finished in three years.

His primary concerns are with the ability of emergency vehicles such as fire and first aid to get in and out of the areas being obstructed by parked cars.

Garbowski told the Suburban that Eric and Jeffrey courts were most affected because each has just one entrance point; the neighborhood is otherwise a dead-end. The problem is made worse by the fact that the roads are narrow.

"It is really an unfortunate situation," Garbowski said. "Because of the construction at the school, spots were lost for the students and this has had an impact on the neighbors, who lost some of their parking area during school hours. The idea was to persuade the students to park at Kennedy and Burkes parks or use a different means of conveyance besides their cars every day."

With the ordinance, students will have to park their vehicles at Burkes Park or Kennedy Park, unless they were lucky enough to win a parking spot on school grounds through a lottery.

Karen Howarth, of Eric Court, spoke during the public portion of the Nov. 6 Borough Council meeting, along with several of her neighbors, to sound off on students speeding, parking illegally and littering on their streets.

"We are concerned and frustrated with the student parking situation," Howarth said.

Many students have been ticketed for blocking residents' driveways, Howarth said, but she added that neighbors often cannot even save themselves a space in front of their homes. Those who attempt to save a spot by placing garbage cans there sometimes find the cans moved by students who want to park.

"They are very rude," Howarth said. "Frankly, we are sick and tired of it. This is due to poor planning by the Board of Education and Sayreville. A plan should have been put in place for the kids to park somewhere besides the street."

Howarth recalled an incident where a student waited for her spot on the street when she started her car to go out recently.

"I did not move into a parking lot," Howarth said. "It is not right that they are parking on our street. We have small children who can't play on the street."

Borough Business Administrator Jeff Bertrand said officials have been concerned with the traffic and parking problems that the construction was going to create this summer. Council President Thomas Pollando said officials did not want to have the high school students parking on the other side of the middle school and walking through that school's property, potentially disturbing the younger students.

"Now there is not going to be a choice," Pollando said.

Councilman Dennis Grobelny said officials will look into adding Jeffrey Court to the parking permit ordinance since it is also east of the high school property, off Ernston Road.

"The police department has been looking into the problems down there and they have ticketed and towed some cars," Grobelny said.

Pollando reassured residents that students will no longer park on their streets once they learn that they will be penalized for doing so.

"If someone does park there," he said, "they will be ticketed and towed away at their own expense."

Board of Education President Michael Macagnone said he was grateful that police granted permission to have students park at Kennedy and Burkes parks, adding that he wished that a compromise could have been reached on Eric and Jeffrey courts.

"I am concerned about the quality of life for people who live around the school building," Macagnone said, "and it is the responsibility of kids to abide by all traffic regulations, but the bottom line is that the kids need a place to park, and I wish we had more of a sense of community so we can work with each other."

The permission to use Burkes and Kennedy parks is a reasonable compromise, he said, adding that the board has an interest in being a good neighbor.

"I am sympathetic to both the residents of Eric and Jeffrey courts, as well as the students who are trying to park," Macagnone said. "The police allowing the kids to use the park is just another example of the community and the school board working together."