Is the prohibition of overnight parking on its way out in the borough?
The commissioners are currently inviting the public to offer their thoughts on the long-standing ordinance over the next few borough meetings.
The ordinance, which has been on the books since Jack Tarditi was mayor, prohibits Haddonfield residents from leaving their car on the street from 2 to 5 a.m. If a resident doesn’t have a driveway or they have more cars than their driveway can accommodate, they can apply for an overnight parking permit with the borough.
There are currently 144 permits for overnight parking issued for 2012. If the ordinance is repealed, the borough would stand to lose around $15,000 to $16,000 in revenue from overnight parking tickets and fees for the permits.
A ticket for an overnight parking offense costs $18, of which the borough receives $6.50. The rest of the ticket cost goes to state-mandated charities and other various funds.
Residents who have a visitor at their home or who can’t park their car on a driveway overnight for some reason can call into an automated number by midnight and report their car being on the street. Such cars are added to a list each night and are not ticketed by police officers on patrol.
Last week, Commissioner Ed Borden presented the possibility of repealing the ordinance for a variety of reasons, most notably because of how much of a time drain it has become on the police department to enforce.
Borden went a step farther and said it’s easily the single largest area of friction between the police department and residents of Haddonfield.
“It’s a constant series of people who are unhappy because they were ticketed, can’t get an overnight parking permit or that we have an overnight parking ordinance at all,” Borden said.
It’s a time-consuming issue for the department, he said, because each night an officer has to spend nearly 45-minutes listening to a recording of residents who have called in their vehicle to report it being on the street.
On average, about 40 cars are called into the daily overnight.
The police department is constantly handling questions and complaints about the ordinance as well, Borden said. Only certain people can be issued a permit — those with no driveways or having too many cars to fit on just one driveway — and it can becomes a complicated venture when deciding if a resident fits the profile for a permit.
There have been many occasions where someone is renting an apartment in the borough, a driveway is available, but a landlord won’t let a tenant park in the driveway.
According to the ordinance, the renter doesn’t qualify for an overnight permit because there is technically a driveway at the property.
Mayor Tish Colombi, however, made it clear she was not sold on the idea of repealing the ordinance. Just drive around Audubon at night — which does not have a prohibition on overnight parking — and you can see what it would look like in Haddonfield, she said.
“It’s more than just how the borough would look also,” Colombi said. “If a police officer sees a suspicious car that hasn’t been called in, it can prevent a crime.”
About 10 years ago, such an instance occurred, Colombi said, which Police Chief John Banning confirmed.
An officer noticed a suspicious car on a borough street that hadn’t been called in for overnight parking, and while investigating, the officer was able to prevent a burglary to a home.
Borden agreed with Colombi and said if the ordinance were repealed, there would be many more cars on the streets of Haddonfield, not only during the night but also during the day as well.
“It’s a significant factor in terms of appearance and safety,” he said.
Jim Winn, a resident of Centre Street, was in all favor for the ordinance being repealed.
It doesn’t make sense, he said, to put so much effort and manpower into enforcing this restriction.
“I feel like it costs more to implement and enforce this law than it’s worth,” he said. “I’m really not sure it’s worth the effort for the police.”
Commissioners will continue to take comments from the public on the issue at its next meeting on Tuesday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.
The final adoption of the borough budget will also be discussed at the meeting.
