Cedar Grove May Give High School Drivers The Boot

Cedar Grove may soon be adding parking restrictions to Ridge Court after complaints of many High School students parking in front of houses all day, despite an ample amount of parking spaces in the assigned parking lot.

No action was taken during the meeting but the council unanimously agreed to move forward on enacting a two-hour parking limit for all of Ridge Court, based on a recommendation from Cedar Grove Chief of Police Richard Vanderstreet.

“I live in that neighborhood and it is narrow and it makes the ingress and egress very difficult in that area,” said Mayor Peter Tanella.

During a February public meeting, Ridge Court resident Michael Picardi approached the council with concerns over a bunch of Cedar Grove High School students parking in front of his house all day.

“It started with two cars, then four,” Picardi told the council during last month's meeting. “Tonight (Feb. 4) there were 13 cars parked there, I couldn't even get out of my driveway.”

“I drove around the high school parking lot and counted 17 open parking spaces,” he added. “Why they don't want to park there, I don't know.”

Cedar Grove Township Manager Thomas Tucci said residents have also complained about litter in that area, a problem he believes will be solved when the cars depart.

Tucci told the council it has been observed that there are open spots in the High School parking lot during the day.

“They should be parking in the parking lot,” said Tanella.

The council aims to move forward with the parking limits during a future meeting.