Township Might Eliminate One-Hour Parking in Village

The Maplewood Township Committee discussed on Tuesday night changing all one-hour parking spaces on Maplewood Avenue to two-hour parking, and standardizing parking times in lots throughout downtown. 

Mayor Vic DeLuca said the adjustments would make it easier for parking officers to enforce the rules, and would also encourage people to spend more time in town.

The changes were proposed by the Maplewood Village Alliance and were based on suggestions that came out of a parking study conducted last year by Maser Consulting, PA.

DeLuca pointed out that parking in the village is "confusing" because it varies from street to street and lot to lot. For instance, parking on Maplewood Avenue is limited to one hour, which DeLuca said is not long enough for most people to have a bite to eat and go shopping. In other cases, such as in the parking lot near the Post Office, parking time limits differ from one space to another. He said the township should standardize parking in lots to all be either 2, 3 or 4 hours. 

The committee decided it would work to draft an ordinance to be introduced at a future meeting.

In other business, Deputy Mayor Kathy Leventhal discussed the success of Maplewood Wellness Week.

Before wrapping up the extremely short meeting (the Mayor said he didn't want to keep the viewing audience from either the Yankees or the presidential debate), he noted that next month's meeting would be on November 7 -- a Wednesday rather than a Tuesday, because of Election Day on November 6. The meeting will include a reenactment of the township committee's very first meeting back in 1922. 

The Mayor hinted that period costume might come into play, though he was short on specifics.