Metuchen officials hope the parking changes on Prospect and High streets will ease the parking woes in the area.
The Borough Council approved an ordinance at a meeting on Feb. 20 to limit parking for two hours on the entire length of Prospect Street from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
On the south side of High Street with Momentum Solar on the end, there will be no parking at all from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, except for public holidays.
On the other side of High Street, which has residential properties, there will be a two-hour parking limit from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
Residents on High and Prospect streets will be required to get a sticker in order to park on the street between those limited hours.
The parking changes are an outcome of resident complaints of parking issues and speeding in the area, largely due to car and truck traffic in and out of the Metuchen Sports Center and Momentum Solar on High Street. Many of the residents attended council meetings in the past few months to express their concerns.
Police Chief David Irizarry said the parking changes will be enforced immediately.
“I encourage residents [in the area] to come and get their stickers,” he said at the meeting. “If you have a visitor, call [the department], give us the license plate and car [make and model] and we’ll leave them alone. We will be ready to enforce [the parking changes] just like the other streets covered by the same ordinance.”
Irizarry said he encourages residents to call the department to report violations.
“We will be more than happy to come,” he said. “What we will do is mark the tire and because it’s a two-hour zone, if we come back and the car is still there, we will issue a summons.”
Mayor Jonathan Busch said he held a meeting with the owner of the Metuchen Sports Center and owners of Momentum Solar on Feb. 15 at his office, asking the owners to find a resolution for the residents in the area. He said he was appreciative of the owners meeting with him on short notice.
“It’s important to be good neighbors,” he said. “It’s interesting. On one hand, you want our businesses to thrive, but sometimes the impacts of a business thriving are the ones that we are hearing tonight.”
Busch said the owners of Momentum Solar employed 20 people as of 2016, but now has grown to more than 700 employees.
“Their business has expanded probably more than they could have ever imagined and unfortunately we are bearing the burden of this success,” he said, adding both owners are looking for ways to be good neighbors.
Busch said there are 20 parking spots along the soccer sports facility; however, the spots have been filled by employees and staff.
“Other parents and soccer players have to find other ways to park and some park apparently illegally and cause a bottleneck in the area,” he said.
Busch said through the discussion, Momentum Solar has agreed to allow the soccer facility staff to park in their parking lot across the street on weeknights from 5-10 p.m. and on weekends.
The mayor said this is not a supreme fix, but is an addition to the approval of the ordinance and enforcement from the police department.
Contact Kathy Chang at kchang@newspapermediagroup.com.
