After a 15-year hiatus, the Weehawken Parking Authority has been reinstated, and will officially open the doors to its new office at 4528 Park Ave. this week. The Parking Authority will be in charge of enforcing all residential parking regulations, which have been handled by City Hall employees and the Weehawken Police Department for over 10 years.
“It has been a year of setting up, and they are ready to go,” said Mayor Richard Turner last week. “The office has been set up, the staff has been reassigned, there has been an increase in fines for parking [violations], and all [updated] electronic equipment is on order.”
During late 2007, the Weehawken Town Council recognized the need for more centralization in parking regulation enforcement due to the growing traffic flow in the area. In addition, many residents have submitted complaints about out-of-town commuters taking up spaces. Residential parking restrictions prohibit non-resident parking in certain areas between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
According to Turner, one of the first objectives of the Parking Authority will be to revise residential parking regulations and have stricter enforcement of parking violations.
The Parking Authority, which will be run under Executive Director Robert Sosa, will be making its first recommendations to the Township Council in late April or early May.
Reinstating the parking authority
In January and in February of 2008, the Weehawken Township Council voted on various aspects of the new authority, including appointing a Board of Commissioners, a town attorney, and the executive director.
“Since then, we have appointed five commissioners,” Turner said. “Currently there is one vacancy. We hired an attorney to deal with parking violations and appointed Councilman Robert Sosa as the executive director.”
In order to modernize the parking authority, town officials observed the practices of some of the surrounding municipalities, including parking-strapped Hoboken. They also worked on getting modernized equipment including handheld ticket devices that can verify the residency of the car.
“Once we put in the new system – the NJ PATS system, which is an electronic tie to the State Administrative Office of Courts – it will facilitate our being able to monitor and enforce the laws we have on our books,” said Sosa. “In near future we will also be enforcing any parking violation with new handheld scanners, which an officer will [use to] be more efficient and cover more territory.”
The Parking Authority employs about 14 people, including six part-time and eight full-time workers.
“These were existing [town] employees that performed different functions and were reassigned to the Parking Authority,” said Sosa. “I have them out in the street anywhere from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.”
Full-time employees have eight-hour shifts, while the part-time workers work hourly and are on call. They all operate on different shifts, and some work split-shifts if needed.
“They know they need to be on call and that has helped us a lot,” said Sosa.
Recommendations to the town
The office hours of the parking authority are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the enforcers are out in various shifts, nearly for 24 hours, between 6 a.m. to 3 a.m.
“Right now, the resident parking is 9 a.m. to noon time, which is prevalent throughout the entire township,” said Sosa. “On Boulevard East and in some parts of Hackensack Plank Road there is an ordinance that prohibits parking between 10 p.m. to 1 or 2 a.m.”
“We want to make recommendations that would make it difficult for commuters, but not get into the hours of visiting.” – Robert Sosa
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Currently there are no laws that prohibit non-resident parking during the evening hours, and resident complain that some commuters still come in and leave their cars there. However, to set evening hours may prove difficult for people who are visiting residents.
“We want to make recommendations that would make it difficult for commuters, but not get into the hours of visiting,” said Sosa. “We do not want to inconvenience residents and their visitors.”
In addition, another major initiative for the Parking Authority will be to increase the number of off-street parking spaces, which is very difficult in an urban area where there is no land.
Currently there are 200 off-street parking spaces in Weehawken, available in the lots behind the public schools and the Pathmark parking lot during certain hours for residents only. Any non-residents using those spaces will get a ticket, and residents are also allowed to park at bus stops from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
The fine for a non-resident parking violation is $58. A percentage of the fines collected will go to the parking authority to offset the cost of enforcement. This year’s budget for the parking authority is $367,000.
The public is encouraged to send comments to the Parking Authority office, which is open from Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and can be reached at (201) 863-1523. Or send an e-mail to parksmart@weehawkenparkingauthriy.org.