South Amboy Council

6/5/19 Business Meeting

By: Joseph L. Kuchie

SOUTH AMBOY – The city of South Amboy is working on an ordinance to help residents with parking near their homes.

The discussion began following public comments from resident Brian Murphy, who attended the business meeting to address his concerns about the four-hour parking signs near his home on Henry Street. His concerns about being ticketed grew after a police officer told him that he could technically be ticketed for parking in those spots if his car was there for over four hours, even if he was a registered resident.

“I think it needs to be worded better or residents should have a right to park there without having to move during the day,” Murphy said. “I think there’s got to be a better way so people can have people over, so residents aren’t getting ticketed.”

Business Administrator Glenn Skarzynski told Mr. Murphy that one of his neighbors on Henry Street visited him with a similar complaint, and that the city was working on a plan to fix the problem.

“We’re working on a concept for resident parking permits and re-visiting the times for parking on various streets,” Skarzynski said. “We’re trying to be very careful because when we do this we have to do a pretty comprehensive parking ordinance because the balance we have to strike is making sure people in neighborhoods with no driveways have adequate street parking, and that those available spaces aren’t being taking up by commuters.”

“There’s no secret that parking is at a premium in the city,” he continued. “By being able to clearly identify residents and their guests, it will be easier for the police to do their job without catching a law abiding and tax paying citizen in a net and have them unnecessarily inconvenienced.”

“The short answer is we’re working on a plan, it’s just a little complicated,” he added. “I want to make sure we do it once, we do it right, and we address the problem to everyone’s satisfaction.”

Skarzynski told Murphy that he is aiming to have an ordinance for the council to review within six weeks. 

All council members were in attendance for the business meeting. The next city council meeting will be held on June 19 at 7:00 p.m.