Petition Urges Boycott Of Downtown Toms River Parking

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Seven weeks from now, the parking fees in downtown Toms River will be rising for the first time in 23 years, under an ordinance passed by the Township Council in June.

But a Toms River resident wants to see that increase halted, and has started a petition urging a reversal of the increase and a boycott of parking downtown.

"This is a direct attack on those who work downtown," said Caroll Murray, who started the petition, addressed to Ocean County Freeholder Joseph Vicari, Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher, Toms River Councilwoman Maria Maruca and Pamela Piner, head of the Toms River Parking Authority, on Aug. 3. "The primary customers to the businesses downtown are the employees for the county."

The ordinance, which takes effect Oct. 1, increases parking meter fees by varying amounts. In the parking deck behind the Town Hall/Ocean County Library complex, the fee will be 75 cents per hour, up from 25 cents charged currently. On-street parking fees will start at 50 cents per hour for the first two hours, but for the third hour and beyond, the cost will increase by 50 cents — meaning someone who parks on the street for eight hours will end up paying $14.50: $1 for the first two hours, $1 for the third hour, $1.50 for the fourth, $2 for the fifth, $2.50 for the sixth, $3 for the seventh and $3.50 for the eighth hour.

The township said the fee increase, the first since 1993, is needed so the township Parking Authority can replace old coin meters with new meters that allow the use of debit and credit cards — technology that is in use in Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant Beach, among other areas, where street parking comes with a fee. The existing parking meters are more than 30 years old, according to the authority.

The new meters and technology are expected to cost $250,000, according to the ordinance. The parking fee increase will remain in place after the new meters are funded.

"The cost of the new parking meter machine should be paid over 10 years, not 10 months!" she said. "And they have no plans to lower the rates after it is paid off, shameful!"

In 2014, when the township announced it was going to undertake the study that led to the parking meter ordinance, downtown business owners pleaded with the Township Council to remove the meters entirely. The council rejected that idea, saying the meters encourage turnover of the parking spots.

In her petition, Murray calls the increase greedy and said it will have the negative effect of deterring people from spending time downtown.

"There is no need for an immediate spot turn over in Downtown Toms River. We should be encouraging potential business patrons to walk around and stick around — not leave in an hour," she wrote. "If you have a dying area, you need to come up with ways to make it more desirable before charging more for it."

In her petition, Murray said the Toms River Parking Authority is supposed to be revenue-neutral.

"If the only reason for raising the rates is to fund an already ridiculous parking system, what's the point?" she wrote. "It sounds like parking should be free." Existing free lots, which have time limits on use ranging from a limited number of hours being parked to limited hours when parking is available, are not helping business owners, she said.

"An increase of 725 percent is greedy," she said, and urges people to boycott paying for parking in the downtown area starting immediately.

"Believe it or not, you have a say in whether this decision to raise fees is successful! Hit them where it hurts - right in the wallet! By cutting off their revenue stream early, you can show them how ridiculous this greedy increase is — and that you're not willing to tolerate such absurdity," Murray said.

An email seeking comment from the Parking Authority on the petition was not immediately answered.

Patch file photo