You may have to start paying for parking in Clifton

By: Mat Fagan
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Abuses of long-term parking spots in Clifton have led city officials to explore adding parking meters and requiring drivers to pay to park in city-owned lots.
..... On Tuesday, [08/15/2023] the City council approved a proposal to add the meters in hopes that time limits would free up more parking spots for shoppers. Currently more than half of the spots have 48-hours limits, and drivers are choosing to pay a ticket rather than move their cars.
..... "People leave their care for tow or three days," City Manager Nick Villano told the council.
..... The Clifton police traffic division asked the city administration to address the ongoing abuse, police officials said.
..... Of the 836 parking spots spread among 18 city lots, mare than 500 are 48-hour spaces, Villano said. The remainder are two-hour spaces.
..... "That has to change," he said.
..... "That has to change," he said.
..... While the city is still exploring how to implement the meters, the council is looking at kiosks strategically placed in parking lots, rather than individual meters.
..... "This came at the request of business owners," Villano told council members. "It is an inconvenience to them. They have to leave every two hours to move their cars."
.... He said kiosks would cost about $7,000 each and operate without coins, allowing drivers to pay at the kiosk or via an app on their phones. It is unclear how many kiosks would be needed.

Meter could help congestion

..... The parking meter dated back to 1935, when the first ones were installed in Oklahoma City. They were not necessarily intended to provide income but to ensure the turnover of parking spaces.
..... Former Clifton Mayor James Anzaldi said he can't recall in his 50-eyar involvement in local politics that the city ever had meters.
..... For Councilman Bill Gibson, paid parking may be the right move, especially in the city's more congested areas, such as Botany Village.
..... "This could take care of some of the complaints in the Botany area, particularly for those who complain they cannot find parking at night," Gibson said.
..... "But we are going to have to work it out," he said/
..... For instance, he could see some of the parking being dedicated to business owners, but added that it is something that will have to be discussed.

Other parking measures adopted

..... The City Council also adopted a measure that provides more stringent enforcement to address illegal overnight parking, also at the request of the Police Department.
..... The new law allows police to two commercial vehicle like tractor-trailers that have been parking illegally overnight on streets including Getty and Crooks avenues.
..... The concern is that more commercial vehicle drivers are parking overnight on city streets and are still willing to take the ticket and pay a $50 fine. In upping the ante, the hope is to deter overnight parking.
..... Police officials said this is in reaction to neighbors Paterson and Passaic stiffening their overnight parking laws.
..... Earlier this year, [2023] Passaic created resident-only parking for streets on its east side, citing a parking shortage.
..... Passaic Mayor hector Lora said out-of-city residents were parking on the street and walking across the bridge, making it difficult for city residents to park.
..... Gibson said Clifton is seeing more out-of-town residents parking, too.

It's about time

..... For residents like Gray Perino, increased penalties are overdue.
..... He told the council that in July, [2023] a 53-foot tractor-trailer was parked on Mount Prospect Avenue for four days and he had a hard time getting police to respond.
..... "I am very happy you're finally addressing the tractor-trailer problem," Perino said.
..... But the hopes law enforcement will put some muscle behind it.
..... "I just hope there is going to be some bite and some follow-up," he said.

HOME