Dear Editor:
I would like Union City residents to know that I share their frustration with the parking situation in our city, and I would like them to know that we are doing all we can to find solutions to this problem.
For the past several months, all handicapped and loading zone spaces in the city have been and are continuing to be reviewed and reinspected and all non-active spaces will be reverted to public and residential parking.
Part of the problem we are facing is the action of the previous administration in granting amnesty to property owners who added apartments to existing buildings, apartments that our administration would not have allowed. More apartments mean more people with more cars. This situation has contributed greatly to Union City’s parking problem.
I am open to any resident’s ideas and suggestions about ways to ease the parking crunch in our community and would welcome your calls or letters on the subject.
In the meantime, I am working on additional parking in the areas of 12th to 13th Streets on Palisade and New York Avenues (approximately 22 spaces) and looking into the possibility of creating up to 300 spaces at the city’s garage site between 27th and 29th Streets, between Bergnline and New York Avenues.
We are also continuing to expand our resident-only parking zones and beefing up enforcement in existing zones.
Residents can help by getting cars that don’t run off the streets and being careful not to take up more than one parking space when parking their cars. If you know of any handicapped or loading zone spaces that are no longer in use, please report them to my office so they can be reviewed and rescinded if necessary.
It’s not an easy job, but by being cooperative and working together we may be able to free up more parking on our streets. The Commissioners and I will continue to work on this issue and try to find additional parking wherever we can.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
Brian P. Stack
Mayor