Montclair Town Council Approves Emergency Parking Ordinances

Fed up with parking on your street? Try telling your town council about the situation... it just might pay off.

The Montclair Township Council approved two emergency parking ordinances during its public meeting on Tuesday, March 10.

Parking on the south side of Cambridge Street from Grove Street to the Glen Ridge line will be restricted to two hours and will be prohibited from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Parking on the same section of the north side of the street will be prohibited during the same days and hours.

Similar parking restrictions were enacted for Oxford Street.

Both ordinances came after repeated requests of residents of both neighborhoods to create a two-hour parking restriction on their streets. Residents have previously asserted that larger vehicles such as fire trucks and school buses were having difficulties turning and passing due to the width of the roads, and that people who lived in the area routinely had trouble finding parking.

The council later voted to approve an emergency resolution that will place both ordinances into effect immediately, citing “health and safety concerns” as the reason.

According to 4th Ward Councilwoman Renee Baskerville, a municipal health and safety crew did assessments of the streets, and determined that “there was an impediment to public safety vehicles.”

Township Attorney Ira Karasick said that normally, these types of ordinances wouldn’t take effect for 20 days, but passing an emergency resolution allows the town to start putting signs up immediately.

The law can’t be enforced until the signs are up, added Karasick.

Send Montclair news tips to eric.kiefer@patch.com