Update: The increased parking rates for meters and visitor/shopper parking lots detailed below went into effect on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. This article was first published on Jan. 10, 2017.
Parking rates are going up in South Orange.
Permit holders already have seen their rates go up for the new year (see below). Now, as of late January/early February, shoppers and visitors to town will feel a bit of a pinch with increases at on-street meters and in public parking lots.
It’s a change that nobody likes, but it is necessary, said South Orange Parking Authority (SOPA) Director Mark Hartwyk last night at the South Orange Board of Trustees meeting.
Hartwyk noted that South Orange’s meter and visitor/shopper lot rates — at 25 cents per hour in most locations — were below the rates of most nearby towns with on-street parking meters and metered parking lots and that the new rates would bring South Orange more in line with some of those towns while continuing to keep South Orange below others.
But the change is not for the sake of town-to-town parking meter parity. Rather, the rates must go up to fund SOPA’s operations — which include commuter and senior jitney services.
The jitneys are expensive to run and are no longer subsidized by federal grants, said Hartwyk (SOPA increased jitney fees a year ago, doubling the cost per ride from $1 to $2 and the cost of an annual jitney pass from $150 to $300).
With the meter and lot increases, SOPA is also hoping to replenish its depleted general fund in order to bring improvements such as meters that accept credit cards, license plate scanning technology, and an online permit renewal system.
Hartwyk said that SOPA had also proposed increasing enforcement from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. but had withdrawn that proposal at the behest of the South Orange Village Center Alliance, which advocates on behalf of Village Center property and business owners. Regarding the parking rate increases, Hartwyk said he wouldn’t say SOVCA representatives “were fine with it” but rather that they “understood.”
Although SOPA acts independently and without the approval of the Board of Trustees, Village President Sheena Collum suggested that “coordination and collaboration between SOPA and the Board of Trustees need to be a lot stronger. We are working on a lot of things involving traffic and circulation and you are a lot more than a parking authority — running jitney and senior buses. Our residents pay very high taxes, they expect something in return.”
(Members of the public can attend SOPA’s monthly meetings which are held the third Tuesday of each month at 7:15 p.m. at the current Village Hall offices at 76 South Orange Avenue, 3rd floor conference room.)
The parking meter and lot rate increases listed below will begin in late January or early February when SOPA receives and installs the software and changes the signage.
All rate increases are per hour.
(Note: Rates are changing; parking time limits remain the same, i.e. 1Hr, 2Hr, 4Hr, 12Hr.)
Street Meters $.25 increase to $.50: West South Orange Avenue, South Orange Ave from Scotland to Prospect, Valley St, First St, Irvington Avenue
Street Meters .50 increase to .75: South Orange Avenue from Sloan to Scotland, Village Plaza, Vose Avenue
Street Meters .50 (per hour – 12-Hr Max) increase to 1.00 per hour: Comstock Place, 3 Meters on Sloan St near Third St, Library lot
Lot Meters .25 increase to .50: Village Hall, Riverside, Irvington Avenue
Pay Stations .25 increase to .50: Taylor Place, Firehouse, South Orange Avenue (across from Rite-Aid)
Pay Stations .50 increase to 1.00: Sloan Street
Permit increases are as follows:
Business:
Mo 35/40 Qtr 85/100 Semi 160/195 An 300/375
Day Resident:
Mo 35/40 Qtr 85/100 Semi 160/195 An 300/375
Night Resident:
Mo 25/25 Qtr 35/45 Semi 50/100 An 75/150
Saturday: 80/150
Temp: 3/5.00
Business Part Time Eliminated.
JITNEY
12 Month Jitney Pass: $300 only available in the parking office.
(Annual Jitney passes valid from January 1st to December 31st)
$2.00 cash each way – Pay on the Bus (exact amount, drivers do not make change)
