Kiosks Would Make Enforcement Of Parking Laws On Main Street Easier, Moorestown Police Chief Says

Moorestown, NJ -- Moorestown Police Chief Lee Lieber told council kiosks would make enforcing any parking regulations on Main Street easier during the workshop portion of Monday night’s council meeting.

The township has been considering replacing parking meters with kiosks on Main Street.

In the kiosk system, each parking space is numbered and police use a handheld device to hand out tickets based on a color coded system.

“Our officers would be able to bring up the spot on their laptop and see if a parked car has been there too long and issue a summons,” Lieber said. “It’s more efficient and it’s better for turnover.”

Most members of council have already seen a demonstration given by Parkeon, and are trying to arrange a town hall meeting so the Moorestown Business Association can see them.

Any legislation would have to give the police department the ability to enforce, including writing tickets and towing vehicles, a power the police currently don’t have.

Over the weekend, Township Manager Scott Carew sent a rough draft of the new proposed parking ordinance to members of council.

It includes suggestions made at the Nov. 28 meeting, including the introduction of parking permits that would allow people who were approved to park on Main Street, and also provide the township with a way to notify anyone who is parked there if they need to move their car in the case of emergencies and Main Street events.

Carew said the cost of the permit was still to be determined.

When they can’t park on Main Street, residents with permits would be able to park in the parking lot across the street.

He said permits would only pertain to overnight parking. Day parking is a different issue, Carew said. He also said some spots would be reserved for short-term parking, and other spots would accommodate two-hour parking.

Deputy Mayor Victoria Napolitano said it was important to designate which spots would be for short-term parking sooner than later.

Carew said the ordinance would use names commonly associated with the parking lots rather than their official names.

The matter was tabled during the Nov. 28 meeting after a resident spoke out during the Nov. 14 meeting on the issue.

Richard Hinchman said he didn’t want to come home late at night from a concert and have to park in a dark alley. He also asked why residents haven’t been consulted on the issue.

When he tabled the proposal, Carew said he realized the proposed ordinance was “incomplete.”

Official legislation can’t be introduced until after the new year, and the new council is sworn in during Jan. 3’s reorganization meeting.