By Larry Barszewski
Because of all the poles, stakes and cones being put out for construction projects or just to keep vehicles off swales in front of homes, Manalapan Mayor Keith Waters said streets in town are “starting to look like a slalom course.”
“You’ll have houses three or four down that have nothing to do with the construction and they just put them up all over in front of their houses,” Waters said.
To get a handle on these “parking encroachments,” town commissioners tentatively approved new restrictions March 22 for where such markers are allowed and for how long they can be up. A final vote is expected following an April 26 public hearing.
“The recent proliferation of construction markers, flags and parking cones, and concrete anti-parking stops throughout the town has become a growing concern as it negatively impacts both the free flow of vehicular traffic, and aesthetics of the neighborhoods,” a town report on the situation says.
“The stakes are everywhere, they’re all the way down the street,” Town Manager Linda Stumpf told commissioners during a discussion at the commission’s February meeting.
If approved, the new ordinance will prohibit any parking cones from being placed at the front of driveways or in swales, and will prohibit the dome- or pyramid-shaped concrete stops residents put in their swales or along the front of their property.
Commissioner Chauncey Johnstone said the concrete anti-parking stops can also pose a danger to motorists trying to avoid a turning vehicle or an obstacle in the road.
Under the proposed ordinance, which in part applies to “construction markers, flags, reflector rods,” such markers would be allowed only on the property undergoing construction, the immediately adjacent properties and the properties directly across the street from those residences.
The construction would have to be tied to an active and valid building permit issued by the town and the markers would have to be at least 3 feet away from each other.
In addition, the parking of heavy construction equipment in swales would be prohibited, although light construction vehicles could be parked in swales at a construction site with prior town approval.
The markers at a construction site — and not at adjacent properties — would be allowed for up to 30 days following the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
Commissioner Richard Granara spoke in favor of also allowing protections for residents with newly installed landscaping. “Some of them are trying to get their swale to take,” Granara said.
The proposed ordinance now says a property that undergoes a town-approved landscaping installation — or landscaping modifications — may have markers for up to 30 days following the installation to protect the newly planted vegetation.
In other action at the March 22 meeting, commissioners:
• Appointed Commissioner Stewart Satter as vice mayor and Granara as mayor pro tem.
• Appointed departing Commissioner Simone Bonutti to an alternate position on the town’s Architectural Commission.
• Tentatively approved an ordinance that gives the code enforcement special magistrate the authority to consider all requests to lower a fine or code enforcement lien on a property. Currently, only the commission has the authority to lower the assessments. A final vote is scheduled for the commission’s April 26 meeting.
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