Double Parking Issue In Downtown Summit Results In Meter Changes

SUMMIT, NJ — A number of parking meter changes were passed at Summit Common Council's meeting on Tuesday night.

Due to traffic safety issues, as well as increased double parking on certain streets in the downtown, the council passed two ordinances to change current 90-minute parking spaces to 30-minute and 15-minute time limits.

Rita McNany, the Parking Services Director in Summit, said the north side of Union Place needs more turnover with parking spaces because people are double and triple parking on the street.

"One of the things with Union Place is that it's one of the busiest streets in our downtown district," McNany said. "And what we've seen is people double and triple parking to run into a store and come back out again."

McNany said the Parking Advisory Committee took into consideration the various businesses on Union Place before proposing the meter change.

The UPS Store, Starbucks, Beechwood Wine and Liquors, SQR Artisan Pizza and the FedEx Office are just some of the stores on the street that people are likely to pop in and out of.

But there are some sit-down restaurants on Union Place like Due 360, Piattino Neighborhood Bistro and Office Tavern & Grille that may require people to park for longer.

McNany said there is other longterm parking available in other areas of the downtown and that people will have to walk.

"We want to reduce the traffic and the safety issues, the double and triple parking," McNany said. It's really becoming a hinderance."

She added that the Parking Services will not ticket people right away for parking over the time limit. A marketing campaign will be released about the change to allow people to adjust, McNany said.

"We're not going to ticket right away, we're going put out a marketing campaign to let people know about the change and give people time to accept it.

These changes will not take effect until after the holiday season.

This will not take effect until after the holiday season. We can see with our AOPR how long people are staying in these spots and give them a warning.

Resident Dorrie Gagnon spoke out at the meeting and held up a photo of a new meter that was installed by the Department of Public Works a week or so ago. Gagnon said the meters were installed before the council actually voted to approve the resolution.

Council President Marjorie Fox said this was a mistake and that the meters were put up prematurely. Fox said as soon as the city heard from members of the public that the meters were prematurely installed, they were taken down.

The council also unanimously approved an ordinance to add employee parking only on a portion of the north side of Broad Street from Walnut Street to Park Avenue.

You can watch the full meeting on YouTube.

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