Maple Cove Parking Row Hits State Level

A spat over parking rules and regulations at Maple Cove in Red Bank has resulted in state intervention and threats borough officials say have been levied against the town without their knowledge.

The issue began with Red Bank’s decision to pave the parking lot at Maple Cove at the base of Maple Avenue, creating 10 metered parking spots. According to environmental activist and regular Red Bank Council foil Cindy Burnham, the borough improperly allowed permit parking — and posted incorrect signage — at the site in direct conflict with regulations laid out by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The permitted parking, Burnham said, was being used by guests of the Hovnanian headquarters located directly next door to Maple Cove, in violation of DEP requirements to keep parking at the tiny bit of public water access for park patrons only. According to Burnham, who came armed with emails before the council at its regular meeting Wednesday night but declined to hand them over, the DEP has informed Red Bank that it will not provide the town with any Green Acres grant funding until the situation is resolved.

The council and borough Administrator Stanley Sickles denied knowing that the DEP had imposed such restrictions saying that Red Bank’s correspondence with the state department has not revealed any misgivings over how the parking situation at Maple Cove has been mishandled. The borough also denied any intentional parking wrongdoings.

“The have been allowing permit parking down there and Sickles knows it,” an agitated Burnham said following the meeting.

Burnham said sometime earlier this week the three alleged permit parking spots were undesignated as such, proof, she said, that the borough knows it was in violation despite their claims of ignorance. A sign for permit parking still remained on site as of Wednesday, she said. Sickles said the borough parking sign is a generic one installed at all borough-owned parking lots, nothing more.

Red Bank is currently seeking Green Acres funding to help cover 25 percent of the cost of installing artificial turf on fields at Count Basie Park. Should the borough be awarded the grant, it would help defray costs to the tune of more than $550,000. It is unclear if the threat from the DEP, the result of the parking problem and a string of correspondence between the department and Burnham could cost the borough that money.

Though Sickles and Mayor Pat Menna said they hadn’t received any notice from the state saying Green Acres funds would be withheld pending the removal of signage, permit parking, and even an electronic parking meter at the site, their comments belied complete obliviousness.

Menna chastised Burnham saying it was unfair that she and just “five kayakers” would attempt to thwart a park improvement project that would benefit roughly 30,000 people, most of them children, each year. The normal and fair and reasonable way to deal with the situation would have been to get the responsible departments together to discuss the issue instead of circumventing regular procedure in an effort to send a message, he said.

Burnham said her efforts to address issues with the borough have often gone unheeded, necessitating the step up the bureaucratic ladder.

Still, the borough is the turf at a baseball, softball, and multipurpose field at the Basie. Whether or not the Green Acres funds come in remains to be seen.