Below, a rendering indicates the size and height of the sign, but not the actual location; it’s to be installed on a lamppost at Broad Street and Wallace Street, above.  (Photo above by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After years of clamoring by merchants and others, downtown Red Bank is about to get new signage indicating the existence and location of its underutilized East Side parking lots.

“Signage” as in a single sign.

Amid a growing demand for a new parking facility on White Street, west of Broad Street, and other solutions to accommodate downtown visitors, the borough council agreed this week to the installation of a sign pointing to the East Side lots, which run parallel to Broad Street between Linden Place and Mechanic Street.

Red Bank Flavour, a consortium of downtown restaurants, has agreed to pick up the$1,500 tab for the sign, which is identical to those used by Metrovation at the West Side Lofts parking garage.

The sign has been a long time coming. Business owners have complained for years that existing signage toward the East Side lots is inadequate because it doesn’t stand out.

Council President Cindy Burnham, who has long advocated for better parking signage, said that in her first two years on the governing body, the two Democrats on the three-member parking committee on which she sat never alerted her of any meetings. So late last year, after the resignation of Councilman Art Murphy and the election defeat of Councilman Mike DuPont she, as the lone member, called a committee meeting, she told redbankgreen Thursday.

“I was the only one on parking, so I took it to the committee,” she said. “It passed.”

Getting it past the borough council wasn’t quite so easy Wednesday night, however. Councilman Ed Zipprich, who was assigned to the committee along withand first-term Councilman Mike Whelan in January, and Mayor Pasquale Menna raised concerns that the sign uses internal illumination, which they noted is a a no-no in the current sign ordinance.

“I’m concerned some skilled attorney will be able to undo what’s currently covered by the ordinance” based on disparate application of the law, Zipprich said. Burnham replied that there’s a difference between using the illumination for a public purpose.

Burnham said she negotiated with the vendor to get the price down to $1,500, installation included, from an initial estimate of $1,750. Installation is planned for 11 a.m. Monday, she said.

A Republican who was dumped from the GOP ticket last month, Burnham is seeking re-election as an independent. She’s planning a May 15 open party, complete with band and food, at her Wallace Street home, just steps from the East Side lots.