A plan to extend enforcement of Red Bank’s parking meter laws by two hours on weekdays appears to be dead on arrival.
Moving in to take its place, though, is a proposal by downtown merchants for a possible doubling of street meter rates, to $1 an hour.
It sounds, at first blush, contrary to the interests of business owners, admits Tom Fishkin, owner of Readies Fine Foods on Monmouth Street. But he says merchants and restaurateurs are getting behind the idea because it does what many of them have not been able to do: force their employees to park in the municipal lots, where meter rates would remain at 50 cents per hour.
That would have the effect of freeing up more street spots for shoppers, he says, encouraging more visits by consumers who want to pop in at just one or two businesses.
Street spots “are so underutilized by consumers because they’re monopolized by store employees and office workers,” said Fishkin, who is also vice chairman of RiverCenter, which promotes the business district.
He noted particular clusters of spaces on Broad and White streets that are consistently occupied throughout the work day by the same cars, all belonging to employees of a second-floor office and a hair salon, respectively.
Mayor Pasquale Menna last month floated the idea of extending enforcement on all meters by two hours on weekdays, until 8p, in an effort to offset plummeting revenue to the borough parking authority, whose surpluses are used to keep property taxes in check.
But appears to have changed his mind. At last night’s borough council meeting, he tabled a measure slated for introduction that would have made the enforcement change effective, if passed by the all-Democrat governing body.
Fishkin and other RiverCenter representatives met with Menna and Councilman Art Murphy on the issue last Friday, Fishkin said, and urged them to back the street-meter increase instead.
After last night’s council session, however, Menna declined to endorse the idea of doubling rates, saying it was just one of several ideas being kicked around. But he added that quick action is needed.
“It will have to be rolled out in January, because we are certainly coming up to a dire forecast,” he said.
Over the next few weeks, he said, borough officials will conduct a detailed analysis of several options, including their expected impacts on borough revenue.
Meantime, Fishkin said, RiverCenter hopes to rally business owners to support the street rate plan. And shoppers? He believes most won’t object to paying an extra 25 cents per half hour for the benefit of a spot in front of or near a business they want to quickly patronize.
Those who object can still park in the public lots at the 50-cents-per-hour rate, he said.
….reason #876 to shop elsewhere…and now work elsewhere….
How about they give tickets to the numerous state vehicles that park near the corner of broad and reckless and NEVER put a cent into the meters as aggressively as they do to consumers trying to shop in red bank and parking in the municipal lot. I see signs in the area stating it is 4 hour parking. If people are parking there and coming out of work at lunch to feed the meters, it sounds like the parking enforcement needs to be doing a better job of enforcing the parking rules and not just taking the meter at face value. Maybe if the enforcement agents spent less time texting while driving this wouldn’t be a problem.
EURECA!! Parking issues on the table again! Lets get those comments a-rollin’ again and again and again.
First Up. My desire to have no meters enforced from 3:00am to 6:00pm. From 6:00pm until an hour or two after the bars close is the most lucrative time to charge for parking. Those twenty/thirty somethings that take over downtown EVERY nite really don’t mind throwing a bunch of money in the meter just to drink etc., Just the cost of doing business for them. Please don’t think parking meters will drive them away (the parking lot of Barnacle Bills just isn’t that big). It just ain’t going to happen. So raise the meter fees as suggested in the article and in no time make up for the pitence actually stuffed in the meters during the day (please note that there are presently many, many empty spaces during the day but hardly any at nite).
Almost every nite Count Basie has something, that “other” theatre has something, RBC has something, movie theatre has something, along with every conceivable configuration of bar or restaurant being open for business.
All the years I’ve lived in RB I still can’t figure out why the customers of merchants during the day have to pay through the nose for parking and the customers of the bars, restaurants, theatres, movies, etc. at nite get off scott free.
Free parking during the day might even bring back many of the people pissed off about the parking hassles they had or the overtime tickets they were awarded for shopping (not drinking) in RB. You would think that River Center would embrace an idea such as this since they seem to be the ones suffering the most in trying to keep or draw in customers.
As far as “smart cards” go, they aren’t a bad idea. Bartenders could give out two hour cards instead of giving one of the lunatics a drink on the house as they once in awhile do. Fresh air and a walk to the meter can go a long way in clearing ones faculties. Restaurants might give them out as good will for their frequent customers to keep them coming back. Along with your subsciption to Count Basie comes a “smart card” for X number of performances, etc. You’all get the idea.
Anyway, my head is starting to hurt from thinking of this parking stuff again. Next thing you know some nut will try to bring up a parking garage idea again and cause some lower part of my body to hurt. It’s just not fair! I thought the Stimulus was suppose to fix everything!
“Those who object can still park in the public lots at the 50-cents-per-hour rate, he said.”
Just be sure you park your car “head in.” I parked for five minutes recently to run into the shoe shop and pick up my shoes; I had prepaid, so it was LITERALLY five minutes. Maybe four. I saw the meter had 30 minutes on it, so I figured I was good, right?
Wrong. The friendly meter maid must have been lying in wait, for I returned to that annoying little buggy and the agent citing me for parking faced in the wrong direction. It was truly a miracle that she had time to issue the ticket and hit “send” before I returned.
At least I live here, so in theory, I get something back for my 38 bucks. In theory.