Westfield Is Ready For Snow, Reminds Residents To Move Vehicles

WESTFIELD, NJ — As the snowstorm is expected to rapidly intensify Wednesday afternoon, likely peaking between 3 and 6 p.m., Westfield is ready.

The National Weather Service says parts of New Jersey could get up to 2 feet of snow Wednesday, and some towns have already reported that nearly 1 inch of has fallen in their communities. (See Related: NJ Nor'easter Updates: 24" Possible In NJ; Snow Totals, Crashes)

Major roads have been pre-treated with salt, plows are ready and extra police personnel have been deployed, Westfield Police reported.

Police are reminding residents of the following town ordinances to allow for plowing:

Section 13-16 Parking Prohibited. Whenever snow has fallen and there is an accumulation of three inches or more on any street, no vehicle shall be parked on any street in the Town of Westfield. This prohibition shall remain in effect until and after the snowfall has ceased and the street has been plowed following the cessation of the snowfall. Downtown residents who have “Nite Owl” permits are permitted to park in the long term spaces in Lot #4 (behind Baron’s Drugs) during snow events.

Sec. 13-16.7 Alternate Side of Street Parking. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 13-16 to the contrary, the Westfield Police Department is authorized to permit alternate side of the street parking during or following snow storm. Should three inches of snow fall, the following locations are subject to alternate side of the street parking and vehicles need to park on the side of the street with odd house numbers: the 400 and 500 block of Downer Street, Livingston Street, Cacciola Place, and Cowperthwaite Place bet ween Clark and Elm Streets. Residents along state and county roads are reminded that both the State of New Jersey and the County of Union prohibit parking on the roadways under their jurisdiction when they are snow covered.

Section 13-16.2 Placing/Plowing snow in streets. No owner, tenant, occupant of any premises abutting on any street shall throw, place or deposit any snow or ice into or upon any street or sidewalk in the Town, it being the intent and purpose of this provision to prohibit all persons from throwing, casting, placing or depositing snow or ice which accumulates on private property onto the sidewalks or streets of the Town of Westfield, thereby obstructing or impeding vehicular or pedestrian traffic or blocking access to any street or sidewalk.

Section 24-5 Removal of snow and ice from sidewalks. The owner, tenant or occupant of any premises abutting any street shall remove all snow from the sidewalks abutting any portion of said premises within twenty-four (24) hours after the snow has ceased to fall. Where ice is frozen to the sidewalk, it shall be removed or shall be treated with salt or other ice melt product.

The Westfield Police also issued an important fire department warning:

Do not run any type of fuel-powered equipment inside of your home or in any enclosed space such as a garage, even if the garage door is open. This includes generators, gas grills, charcoal grills and portable fire places. All equipment should be at least 15 feet from your home. Running fuel powered equipment in or too close to an enclosed structure, including a garage with its door open, can lead to deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. Make sure all candles and all fires inside an approved wood burning stove or fireplace are attended to at all times.

Prior to starting your vehicle, first make sure that the exhaust pipe is not covered or encased with snow, even if the vehicle is unoccupied and you are just warming it up. When the tailpipe is blocked, extremely dangerous and potentially deadly carbon monoxide fumes will be forced back into the passenger compartment and could overcome a person in a matter of seconds. The very first action you should taking when digging out a vehicle is to clear away the snow from the tailpipe a distance of at least 3 feet and keep checking that it remains clear.

PSE&G warns downed power lines and power outages are possible. The saturated ground, the weight of the wet snow, and wind gusts have the potential for bringing down utility lines and tree limbs. Residents are reminded downed wires should always be considered “live.” Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything that it might be in contact with. Call 9-1-1. Power outages should be reported to PSE&G (1-800-436- 7734).

(Image via Shutterstock)

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.

Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.