The Jersey City Parking Authority plans to raise the citywide parking meter fee from 50 cents per hour to 75 starting this summer, something that has Jersey City Heights resident John Seborowski frustrated.
Jersey City already has some 25-cents-per-20 minute red-colored meters in certain business areas in the city, but the new increase would apply to the rest. Some of the areas with meters are downtown Jersey City on sections of Newark Avenue and Jersey Avenue, as well as Central Avenue in the Heights.
Seborowski brought up the matter at the City Council meeting on May 12. He said at the meeting that he was surprised little has been mentioned or discussed by city officials about the increase, which he found out about after coming across information listed on the council’s agenda in the Petitions and Communications section.
The Jersey City Parking Authority plans to raise the citywide meter fee by 50 percent.
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A May 6 memo from the Parking Authority’s executive director Mary Paretti to Mayor Jerramiah Healy addressed the increase, claiming it was done to increase turnover, since monitoring at certain metered spaces has revealed they are occupied all day by people feeding quarters. The increase was approved by the Parking Authority Board of Commissioners at their April 27 meeting and did not need to be confirmed by the council. It will go into effect later this summer after certain other steps are taken.
At the meeting, Seborowski said the increase is “not fair” to residents of Jersey City and that the Parking Authority should instead enforce current regulations to ensure available parking.
“Punish those responsible for abusing parking regulations, not those who abide by the regulations,” Seborowski said. “Or is this just another way to squeeze the residents and increase the income of the Parking Authority?”
He also took the Parking Authority to task for the statement in the memo saying approval to increase meter fees was not needed from the City Council because the city’s municipal code stipulates that the Parking Authority is responsible for the “regulation, control, maintenance, operation and use of parking meters.”
Seborowski pointed out that the Parking Authority found time to come in front of the council in November to convince them to approve a $4.6 million bond for the Parking Authority to purchase 392 Central Ave., the building where it is currently headquartered.
Paretti could not be reached last week at her office or on her cell phone for comment on the meter rate hike. An employee at the Parking Authority said she was on vacation.
Mentioning other cities’ rates
The memo by Paretti says the increased rate would be comparable to meter rates in cities of similar size such as Newark, Camden, and Paterson, which are currently .75 per hour.
In most Hudson County towns with meters, the fee is .50 per hour, with the exception of Hoboken, whose $1 per hour is the highest in Hudson County.
The next step – unless there is a repeal of the increase as requested by Seborowski at the council meeting – is for the meters to be recalibrated to reflect the increase, starting sometime between June 1 and July 1.
Paretti’s memo also states that public notices and flyers will be sent out to let residents and businesses know about the change.
Business owners unaware
Two downtown business owners interviewed last week said they only found out after being told by a reporter about the increase.
Phillip Stamborski is owner of Gallerie Hudson, a frame shop located on the corner of Jersey and Newark avenues in downtown Jersey City that is only a few feet away from metered spaces. He was somewhat taken aback, yet not too surprised.
“Fifty to 75 cents is not a big deal,” Stamborski said. “The bigger issue is creating more parking spaces, since I have customers who drive in here and get frustrated from not finding any parking.”
Stamborski continued, “I understand we need money, but we need some other kind of parking solution.”
Jennifer Smith, owner of Jack’s Toy Shop on Jersey Avenue, also didn’t know about the meter fee increase, but didn’t seem concerned since most of her customers walk to her store.
“A quarter for 20 minutes, I don’t think the average person will notice,” Smith said. –
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.