At the Tuesday, Aug. 22 commissioners’ meeting, the commissioners passed ordinances to regulate the offshoots of construction in town.
Haddonfield’s Board of Commissioners last week passed a pair of resolutions intended to ease the residential impact of local construction.
The commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to temporarily change parking regulations on streets surrounding Haddonfield Memorial High School while the school undergoes construction.
“We are looking at some of the parking issues that are going to happen when school starts back up again,” Mayor Neal Rochford said. “The commissioners have met with our police chief; we’ve also met with school officials to try to come up with a plan that — although it may not be perfect — will hopefully ease up on some of the congestion in that area.”
Under the resolution, the borough will issue temporary parking permits to residents on the affected streets and HMHS staff, enabling them to park along sections of Kings Highway, Roberts Avenue and Belmont Avenue from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. Vehicles parked in the designated areas without a permit will be ticketed.
The permitted parking will go into effect on the first day of school, Sept. 11, and will continue through Jan. 31, 2018, at which time the Bancroft school property’s lots will become available for use to HMHS staff.
Residents along the street will receive one parking permit per household, but Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough said any resident in need of additional parking permits should contact the borough to make arrangements. Residents on the affected streets will have their permits mailed out Sept. 1.
Roberts Avenue resident Michael Skinner questioned how the change will affect residents.
“What are the hours of enforcement, and how they will be controlling it?” Skinner asked. “Because we get a lot of problems now because of the kids.”
Police Chief Theodore Stuessy said throughout the school’s ongoing construction, the police will have a high presence at all the schools. He said the department is aware of the high volume parking residents along Roberts Avenue contend with throughout the school year, but he anticipates the street being filled by HMHS staff rather than students once the permitted parking goes into effect.
“It’s going to be used for parking for faculty and residents,” Stuessy said. “The kids are going to be displaced. Where they end up is going to remain to be seen.”
The borough and school district are trying to encourage students to find alternate ways of getting to school other than driving, Rochford said. He suggested students walk or bike to school while parking is constrained.
Rochford said Bancroft’s departure at the end of January will immensely improve parking in the area, as it will give HMHS staff access to their lots. In the meantime, Rochford said they recognize the overflow will affect residents along nearby streets.
“I can only apologize for the inconvenience it’s going to cause, but when you do major construction like this and construction equipment and so forth, we have to do what we have to do as far trying to accommodate and keep things moving,” Rochford said.
In line with talk of construction, the commissioners also passed a resolution adopting a policy for construction fencing to protect borough-owned trees. Under current borough ordinances, borough trees whose critical root zone falls within the construction zone must be protected during construction. Commissioner John Moscatelli said the resolution expands upon the current ordinance by outlining what fencing is appropriate.
“Experience has shown that where construction occurs, we very often two years later have to cut down trees because the roots have been compacted, and the trees dies,” Moscatelli said. “So, rather than have the borough eat that expense, we’re trying to prevent that from happening and making sure the developers take that burden. This just codifies exactly what is acceptable and what isn’t.”
Robin Potter, chairperson of the Haddonfield Shade Tree Commission, said the Shade Tree Commission thanked the commissioners for incorporating the changes to the Shade Tree Ordinance passed in 2014, but she questioned how enforceable the resolution will be.
“We’ve had a hard time with the courts paying attention to our ordinance,” Potter said.
Potter asked if a developer’s construction permit could be suspended for failing to comply with the ordinance, and she also cited section 56 of the Shade Tree Ordinance, which says developers pay the cost of replacing the damaged tree with a fee of up to $27 per square inch of the tree’s diameter, as a means of enforcing the ordinance.
Solicitor Mario Iavicoli assured Potter the resolution is enforceable, and developers’ permits can be taken away for failure to comply.
In other news:
• Commissioners swore in two new police officers with Anne Donnelly and Michael Giorla joining the ranks as new patrolmen. Richard Walker, James Ervine and Joseph Quicksell were promoted to corporals while Michael Caruso, Stuart Holloway and Danielle Mueller were promoted to sergeants.
• The next board of commissioners meeting will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Borough Hall.
