Montclair's New Parking Problem?

Are you kidding me? WTF?

List of things to do before I park overnight in Montclair:

1) Buy computer
2) Find Internet Service Provider and get email address
3) Go to Montclair Police Department (MPD) Website and read the rules in triplicate
4) Email the MPD every day, reserving an overnight parking place just in case I need it three days later
5) Check Inbox every day hoping that the Benevolent and Mighty MPD have granted my request
6) Purchase an automobile in case they ever do say yes.

Who are these guys? The town is going to have to hire at least three full-time brothers-in-law -- oops, sorry, I mean administrators -- to manage this Herculean effort to piss people off with no possibility of services in return. Off with their heads!

How do you know your battery is going to die 72 hours beforehand?

Also, not everyone has email, Einsteins.

Did anyone think this through? I am infuriated at the idea that my friends will get tickets just for a last minute stay.

I once called the police and asked why we even have this crazy rule about no overnight parking in Montclair. They told me it was to allow full street access for street cleaners.

I call BS. The street cleaners don't work every night.

Its high time for an Overnight Parking Authority (OPA), who needs to be controlled by the new Office of Overnight Parking Services (OOPS) and whose policies needs to be devised by the Board of Overnight Parking (BOOP).

The necessary property tax increases for OPA, BOOP and OOPS are only going to be minimal since OPA it a revenue generator.

This town is out of control. First the day and night passes, then the constant moving of cars for those who work at home and were wait listed for the day passes,and now this ridiculous red tape for guests. How about we spend more time chasing criminals and a little less time trying to profit off renters?

Please Remain Calm: I understand they're also publishing a book titled, "Protocols of the Office of Overnight Parking." POOP for short.

How does one go about reversing this decision? Petition? Attend a meeting of some sort?
If anyone has any ideas- please email me at mandy939@gmail.com or post here.

No problem! Just park the car on the lawn!

or you can simply send tons of complaints to that email address, register that email address porn sites, nambla or any other spam generating site, so the new system becomes painfully unusable to the town.

I understand that all residents must submit photos and brief bios of each prospective overnight guest to the MPD. If they deem the guest hot, you'll get the pass. If not, you will be turned down and, as an added penalty, police cars will cruise in front of your house announcing to one and all that you have lame guests.

Restricting overnight parking has nothing to do with street cleaning. It is a crime fighting concept which allows the police to monitor "suspicious" cars, particularly with regard to drug trafficking. It also allows cops to ensure that rowdy parties don't go on long past the hour of slumber for others.

But it is traditionally also a "weapon" that is wielded with some liberality, which seems no longer to be the case in Montclair.

Wow! Declining town servicesm high taxes and now you can't even have a guest park on the street or have a disabled car overnight? What's next, size 11 shoes for everybody?

Bullshit, Cathar, it is Economic Discrimination 101 (a different kind of ED than that advertised on televised golf tournaments). It is used to keep the poor, disenfranchised, lower-income residents from populating a one-family house with three families, thus requiring the associated additional automobiles (probably stolen) to be parked on the streets. Most of these additional automobiles (probably stolen) will probably also be ugly, garish, customized models with decals of Chinese menu entries on the windows, or, worse, chain links around the license plates, all of which offend the sensibilities of the staunch, tax-paying, gentlefolk (read: white people) who inhabit the more tasteful residences. Just remember: parked cars don't cause crime, it's the people in them that do.

captain veggiematic has the right idea.
we need an night of civil disobedience.
Everyone should park their car on their front lawn for one evening. starting at 6PM until 8AM.
You guys decide on the date and count me in.

I wish they would institute the no overnight parking rule in Bloomfield. People are taking advantage of Bloomfield and park their cars for several days in a row without moving them. Sometimes these unsightly cars obscure a portion of my park vista, particularly the pigeon buffet that one of my neigbors assiduously lays out every morning.

Bah! hamburg!

Conan, stick it in your ear. You are much mistaken. Don't be so quick to find "discrimination" where it may not be. I grew up in a town with restrictions on all-night parking, one where a friend in the Navy stationed nearby had to call the police every time he came back to visit his parents so he could park overnight. The friend accomodated the system as he understood the reasoning behnd it.

The limiting of overnight parking is a police tool, and that's all it is. Rightly or wrongly. Don't puff yourself up and blow this one up, either. Even (or should that be especially?) if the car parked overnight is a Lexus.

I'm also baffled by the phrase "customized models with decals of Chinese menu entries on the windows," that youbused. I've never seen such cars. But then, perhaps you live in a much more truly diverse, 'ethnicy' (hi, fran!) part of Baristaville than other posters above. It's called Clifton, as best I recall.

What about people parking around Walnut street station all day for free in front of my apt? Maybe the police should look into this fact.

Also if you meet someone online for a date and things look good do you have to ask if they have over night parking? Could this be a way to keep single people out of Montclair? Just a thought. Maybe I could start a new web service. Match&Park.com.

I live in Montclair and sometimes I drive to Clifton just so I can park overnight (Clifton has no overnight parking rules). No wonder all you guys live in Clifton. It is a town that doesn't discriminate based on time of day.

How does this help the police monitor anything that the current system doesn?t? My sister driving down from VT to hang out and needing to park on the street is usually spontaneous, and doesn?t allow the 3 day rule. Drug traffickers, I would guess, would be must more organized and thus easily figure out a way around the 3 day rule.

Sorry Sis, no more hometown fun for you! Peace, love and cupcakes!

Miss M, please don't make that mistake! - if you tell them the battery is dead, they will NOT let you park it overnight. Tried that once, the car died in the public lot behind the Plaza Shop off Watchung and I called to ask if it was ok to park overnight, and the nice officer was about to say yes until I continued blabbing and said we couldn't get a jump or have it towed til the next morning. Oh, did I beg him to forget he heard it! If it's dead, you can't leave it.

but I guess that's all moot now, because I am not Karnak and don't know 72 hours ahead of time that the alternator is going to crap out.

LOL, Mojo. The parking ban was actually created by the board of health to keep STDs at bay. What a novel concept!

But really. I don't live in Montclair anymore but would be willing to take part in an act of civil disobedience. I'll just pick someone's lawn at random and park there. Name the night.

I don't think you're allowed to park on the front lawn.

You may be allowed to park on the side or back lawn.

We have a neighbor that paved over his small front lawn, without a permit, and without regard to the fancy Belgian block curbs, and recently got another car which he jumps the curb and parks on the other side.

so depending on how much attention the PD and code enforcement is paying, maybe civil disobedience won't do any good either.

This is a bad rule, and I'll tell you I think it's a LAZY rule. I've called plenty of times about overnight parking for guests, usually get a disgruntled person on the other line who really doesn't feel like taking down the info. So, thanks cops, for nothing.

I'm down with the Park In, fritatas.

Montclair folks: have your overnight guests park in Bloomfield. You can ferry them to and from their cars as needed.

Residents of Bloomfield would be very happy to let you park on their streets and to charge you for ferrying your guests back and forth.

It will be a new cottage industry for us.

We'll announce our new business her on Baristanet once we've worked out the details.

Yes, Cathar, and I suppose the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy also will make arrangements to park (three days before they have to) when they go around on their nightly rounds, so that the police won't think they are up to illegal activity, hiding eggs and jingling all that loose change about. Wakee, wakee!

Cars parked on the street late at night, occupied or not, are indications of Group W behavior, and may be owned by (or more probably stolen by) all kinds of mean nasty ugly-looking crime-type people; mother rapers; father stabbers; father
rapers!

Mellonbrush, on-street parking in Bloomfield (in which Cathar has apparently never seen any ethnic diversity) is an absolutely necessity because of the laws that state (1) all garages must be converted to Mother-in-law apartments or storage units, and (2) that all driveways must be a full sidewalk short of being able to hold two automobiles.

Oh please don't park in Bloomfield. Between the college students, tenants and houses with more cars then spaces, we are over our limit. I say we have our own park in and park on the campus and over run the lot the students refuse to use since the school sells more permits then there are spaces.

Even though I don't live in Montclair I'd like to thank the police dept. Thanks for forcing all your residents to bring their guests over to other towns that do have overnight parking. Thanks for crowding up our streets, which will inevitably cause us to lose our overnight privileges as well.

And let's not assume that all cars that aren't valued at over $30k are owned by drug dealers. Not everyone is bestowed with the wealth of certain Baristavillers. Nor do some wish to waste their money on flashy shows when something less expensive can serve the same purpose.

I'm going to park my car on my front lawn and stick some cinderblocks under the tires, which I will toss in a pile next to the car along with my recycling which will be partially obscured by the huge weeds I will let grow there. You'll recognize my house by the 365 days of X-mas lights and deflated blow-up Santa dangling from my roof.

When the car is not on its cinderblocks and I drink too much, without the requisite 3 day planning, I'll make sure that I drink and drive during the day on a weekday so as not to interupt any street cleaning or patrolling for drug dealers.

Actually, Conan, I'm sure that if the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy ever need a place to park, you'll let them share your driveway. Just as long as their vehicles sport those decals of chinese menu items. (And "dingleberries" outlining the rear windshields!)

I think you "harrumphed" to little purpose today, that's all.

So the next time my sister has "a few too many" at Just Jakes, I should tell her to just drive home because my apartment building doesn't have enough spaces for tenants, let alone guests?

Every day this town just gives me more and more reasons to move.

"I'm going to park my car on my front lawn and stick some cinderblocks under the tires, which I will toss in a pile next to the car along with my recycling which will be partially obscured by the huge weeds I will let grow there. You'll recognize my house by the 365 days of X-mas lights and deflated blow-up Santa dangling from my roof."

Well, you're going to have get a set of Maine license plates, then.

Or maybe just a City of Clifton parking tag...

This is a bad idea! The average 2bdrm apt in montclair has 2 cars. One parking spot. A lot of people call in their cars every night (it costs 30$ a night for the ticket) That's $600 a month if they let you park on the weekends. There has to be a way to reverse this, or make it unbearable to their server. Ideas? (Besides signing them up for spam)

...a telephone call, later this summer:

Irate Citizen: I am am extremely upset about how the overnight parking rules are being enforced! I emailed your department 4 days ago so that my houseguests could park overnight on the street last evening. Both cars received $30 tickets last night!

Montclair Police: Did you receive an email back from us saying that you had permission to park overnight?

Irate Citizen: No, but I emailed you well in advance of the 72 hour limit.

Montclair Police: Well, until you get an email back, you don't have authorization to park overnight. No email means that the patrol officers don't know that you are authorized to park overnight.

Irate Citizen: But I emailed you! In time! Why aren't you doing your job!

Montclair Police: Well, maam, some jokers decided to spam the overnight parking request email address. We get about 500 online porn emails a day, and many of the legitimate requests are overlooked and don't get processed. You are the 10th person who has called me today complaining about this.

Irate Citizen: Then why don't you change the system if it doesn't work!

Montclair Police: This is the process that the Town Manager approved. We're not going to change it. Next time, send 5 emails. Hopefully we will see one of them. In the meantime, you'd better pay those tickets. The town manager is pushing us to increase collections by booting cars with unpaid fines.

Irate Citizen: But that is ridiculous! It doesn't make any sense! I pay a fortune in taxes to live in this town, and this is how I get repaid?!?!

Montclair Police: {silence}

Irate Citizen: Hello?!?! Can you hear me?!?! How can you keep a system in place that obviously doesn't work and penalizes the people who try to do the right thing?!?!?

Montclair Police: Thank you for your call, maam. Have a nice day. And don't forget to pay those tickets.

Spicoli, thanks for the laugh, that was great!

Conan, as a MTC gal who is now in Maine you made me laugh out loud, thank you.

With regard to this new rule, I agree with most of the posts, this is outrageous. I have to e-mail ahead to visit my parents or friends? What about the people who have two cars in their household? Most apartments do not have two spots per unit. And if I'm denied, park in Bloomfield or Clifton? May as well just park in the City and take the bus.

A thirty dollar ticket ? For an overnight guest ? Cheaper than a motel. Thanks MPD

This is what I wrote the town. I will post their response when it happens:

"This 72 hour email system to park over night is wrong. The average 2bedroom apt in montclair needs 2 cars, and only has 1 spot. That's a zoning issue. Most of montclair has problems with parking that you are WELL aware of, and now you are going to restrict these people even more??? Where is the relief for the resident? Do you think it is reasonable that someone pays up to $600 a month in fines because they have no place to park at night? Or should we hire someone to move our car every 30minutes? Please respond. Im not so much outraged, I would just like a Resolution"

I think all the mayoral candidates should address the issue and I'm voting for the one who promises to get rid of the new policy.

sounds like discrimination for people who don't have access to email as well. disparate impact - using a neutral procedure (emailing people) that causes a discrination (many minorities and low-income residents don't have email access).

..street cleaners, street sweepers-? WHAT the F are they-?? I live on Walnut, and I sweep the street, every Sunday. The garbage that people decide to throw there, or the garbage from local retailers that finds its way to the curb SITS there till...whenever I get off my A**, take my big Target metal dustpan and broom sweep it my damn self. How funny, a renter who doesnt pay Montclair taxes, having to pick up the slack. I ve never ever seen a street sweeper. they never even took off the xmas wreaths they put up in novemeber!!

Rumor has it that this whole ridiculous new police rule is nothing more than some diabolical backdoor plot hatched between Joe Harnett and the police chief in order to divert attention from the real issues--like the rise in crime and taxes. Once everyone is in an uproar, one of our heroic elected officials will swoop in and save the day, forcing the law to be repealed. That person will go on to win the election, and Joe Harnett will get to keep his job for four more years. And who started this rumor? Okay, it was me. Just now. But let's see what happens in the next few days, and then we'll see who's calling who crazy.

It's not a "new law" it's policy. Joe Hartnett has made it clear that it's his job to make policy.

I'm sure it's a plot between Michaelson and Hartnett, so that, as Deputy Mayor she can swoop in and straighten him out.

The solution to this seems simple: Permit Parking on streets. For low fees of $XXX and 2x$XXX a resident can purchase street parking permits for his first and second car etc per year. Property tax payers will get sent one together with his sewer bill. Matter of fact the sewer bill can act as a permit to save costs.
Permits have to be displayed on the dashboard at all times.

What a wonderful way to generate income... :-)

Of course we need to have oversight for this, so I would propose a Combined Office for Parking and Sewers (COPS) which reports directly to the township manager.

This must not stand. Every candidate for office in Montclair better make their position on this nonsense clear.

The parking in Montclair is a total racket. Now it's moving into the realm of the absurd.

Owning a car is a hardship. Owning a car in New Jersey is harder still. In Montclair? Forget about it.

Who is this town for? Increasingly not for workers.

Is this posting a joke? Seriously. What an idiotic policy. Baristas, can you get us some input from town hall on this? Sure it's a police policy but it's to enforce a local ordinance which is the council's responsibility. Why the change?
Those running for office, what's your position on this? Let's hear it. This is an archane, BS policy. I have people who race down my street to make a train and park in front of my house for 8 hours a day. No one bothers them. The two times I've forgotten to pull my own car into my driveway (one of the few on the block) I've gotten a ticket by 2:45 a.m.
No one wants this ordinance and this policy makes it ten times worse. How about a once a week no parking without permission rule? THis cuts back the administration of this and the annoying calls to the police desk but solves the abandoned car problem. And it makes residents lives that much simpler. Almost every home in my neighborhood has little or no off-street parking. Jesus this is stupidity at its best.

I've also seen evidence of (evidence of, mind you... not even the actual machine) a street sweeper go down my street 2 times in 5 years of living here so don't even begin to suggest that is the reason for this rule.

I just had a conversation with someone from the department of public works. Was told they do street cleaning from 4am to noon mon thru friday. They try to hit every street at least once a month--but ice or snow sometimes interrupts service. I was given a very precise record of the times they did our block. The person giving me the info could not have been more polite.

I lived in MTC for nigh on ten years and I NEVER saw nor heard a street sweeper. And I'm an insomniac.

I saw a street sweeper today on Grove/Watchung around 1:20pm

runs pretty silent, so its likely you never hear them.

One more reason I'm glad I landed in Bloomfield instead of Montclair. Which is not to say Bloomfield doesn't have its own issues, the latest of which is an 11% budget increase being pushed through by a mayor who insists that "people want the services they pay for" (answer: "No, not at that price!" and, "what am I getting for what I pay now aside from twice weekly garbage pickup I don't need?") and a council seemingly oblivious to the fact that we are, in fact, NOT Montclair, and we can afford that kind of tax hike even less than you poor schlubs can.

Don't these people know there's a recession on? And that I just paid almost three freakin fifty for gas? The only one who voted against it was Hamilton, and that's probably only because he's running for Freeholder in the primary. Geez, you'd think the lone Republican on the council, whathisname, uh, oh! Ray Tamborini (the guy for my ward) would be, out of all of them, the "fiscally responsible" one. I hear he's contemplating a run for a third or fourth term. What has Invisible Ray done to distinguish himself in his first few terms, aside from get drunk one night and smash up a township car?

Anyway, back to that little bastion of dysfunction known as Montclair. Maybe it's the late hour and the lack of sleep, but this so-called "overnight parking ban" really is a load of bullcrap. Truly. It's a ban on parking for three hours in the middle of the night when everybody is sleeping anyway. What crime is being detected? Most residential burglaries occur during the daytime when nobody is home. And are street sweepers really out at 4 in the morning?

Damn but are you people being screwed by Hartnett, et. al. And he won't even give you the "common courtesy of a reach-around", which in this case would be letting your last-minute overnight guest park on the street.

Ok, but even if street sweepers come around once a month, can't there be a sane and humane policy the other 29 days? Mandating that people who don't have driveways can't have overnight guests is just cruel. What if you get lucky?

I just noticed a note on the website that they are reconsidering this. True to form, they blame someone else. They say the problem is a decision by the courts that they have to follow the rules on issuing and processing tickets. Shame on the courts for making them follow the rules!!

Dear Mr. xxxxxx,

I just wanted to give you a follow-up on the overnight parking advance notice issue. Yesterday afternoon the township manager had the notice below posted on the Montclair web site:

STATEMENT BY TOWNSHIP MANAGER JOSEPH HARTNETT REGARDING OVERNIGHT PARKING ? 5/1/08

Due to recent actions in the New Jersey courts requiring the strictest of procedures in the issuing and processing of parking tickets, it is going to be necessary to consider revising the current Montclair ordinance which strictly prohibits overnight parking on most Montclair streets. Contrary to public perception, this ordinance, as adopted by Township Council many years ago, makes no provision whatsoever for people to obtain ?permission? for any reason to park overnight. Obviously, in today?s society this is not practical or workable and we will be recommending ordinance revisions to provide for some kind of system to allow for overnight parking when and where needed by our citizens. Any system not properly adopted by ordinance is not defensible in court.

In the meantime, current procedures will continue to be followed and this office is working with the Police Department and the legal department to determine how we can address this problem until Township Council can consider amending the ordinance. Several proposals are being discussed, but nothing has been finalized as of this date. The proposal briefly posted on the Township website yesterday is not the final proposal. We expect to release this month a final proposal for transitioning to a better system.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Sincerely,

Katya Wowk
Webmaster
Township of Montclair, New Jersey
973-509-4908