Asbury Park to Crackdown On Diagonal Parking
By ANDREW CANGIANO
The Asbury Park Police Department will begin to enforce a ban on diagonal parking on a number of streets, beginning next month.
In order to notify residents of the change flyers have been placed on vehicles that are parked on streets where the ban will be enforced.
It was never allowed – angle parking, said city Deputy Mayor James Bruno. Never.
In 1977, the city passed an ordinance outlining where diagonal parking would and would not be allowed.
According to the ordinance, the streets where parking at a 45 degree angle is allowed are:
- Ocean Avenue to Kingsley Street on First, Second, Third, and Fourth Avenues.
- Sunset Avenue from Ocean Avenue to Kingsley Street on the north side.
- Sixth and Seventh Avenues on both sides of the center island of the street only.
- Fifth Avenue from Main Street to Memorial Drive the south side only.
- Grand Avenue from Cookman Avenue to Lake Avenue on the west side only.
- Lake Avenue from Emory Street to St. James Place on the south side only.
Beginning April 1 any vehicle parked on an angle on streets other than those mentioned above will receive a summons, said officer Tony Butler of the city police departments Traffic Safety Unit.
Deputy Police Chief Mark Kinmon said the department is addressing a number of traffic related and safety issues, which includes the angle parking.
We were overwhelmed with complaints about a variety of traffic issues, including speeding, double parking and pedestrians walking in and out of traffic, he said. Angle parking is a big public safety issue. The roads are not wide enough to be used as angle parking.
Kinmon said the departments new Traffic Safety Unit has been assigned to handle complaints and questions.
We had a safety unit but it was disbanded eight years ago, he said.
Summons will begin to be issued April 15, Kinmon said.
In order to avoid receiving a summons, a vehicle must be parked parallel to the curb, he said.
Asbury Park officials said the city is more strictly enforcing the regulations regarding angle parking as a result of concerns from residents.
People have been complaining about it, saying how dangerous it is, said city Clerk Steve Kay.
As a result of the diagonal parking ban, which will force residents to park parallel to the curb, the city will lose a lot of parking space, Bruno said.
The deputy mayor said the state Department of Transportation informed the city that the ordinance can not be changed because many streets in Asbury Park are not wide enough to allow for diagonal parking.
Rita Marano, a longtime city resident, said she is happy that the rules regarding diagonal parking are going to be enforced.
It never should have been like that, Marano said about diagonal parking occurring on all of the citys streets.
She said because there were no lines to demarcate spaces, people ended up parking head-on, rather than on a diagonal.
I dont know how it got started, she said. All I know is its illegal.
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