By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
STRATHMERE – Traffic crawls on summer weekends in the shore town section of Upper Township, with drivers taking care to watch for pedestrians, car doors opening and more along the narrow streets.
In some areas, when cars are parked along both sides of the road, the route is tight enough that oncoming cars are obliged to take turns passing, as they would on a one-lane alley.
The issue has drawn concern from the members of the Strathmere Volunteer Fire Company, and was discussed at the July 13 meeting of Township Committee.
“There is no easy solution. I don’t know what the answer is,” said Committeeman Curtis Corson, who accompanied township engineer Paul Dietrich to tour Strathmere. “We have to start looking at plans on how we’re going to start widening streets.”
Corson and Dietrich looked at several streets in the beach community, but there was a consensus to act in only one spot, along East Randolph Avenue.
“By our standards and state standards, there should only be parking on one side,” Dietrich told committee at the meeting, which the public could only attend remotely because of the pandemic.
Residents along the road support the idea, he said, because as it stands, they often cannot get out of their driveways in the summer. Plans are for an amendment to the township parking ordinance to be presented at an upcoming meeting.
They also looked at Prescott Avenue but made no recommendations for change in the short term. In the future, Dietrich said, the township should consider widening roads to the full right-of-way and install curbs, which would cost about $65,000 if performed as part of a county repaving contract.
A resident of Prescott Road questioned the township plans at the meeting, and suggested his street was being treated differently than others. He said the possibility of allowing parking on one side of the street was not under consideration, suggesting that the township may require him to tear out curbing installed as a requirement of getting a site plan approval.
Committeeman John Coggins said the township is only considering taking the pavement to the limits of the existing public right-of-way.
“Sir, that’s widening the street,” homeowner Randy Roash said.
At points, Roash and Committeeman Curtis Corson argued back and forth. Corson said the township has not yet made any decision, and was only set to change the ordinance for one street, which will only impact a few parking spaces. There has been no decision on Prescott, he said.
“We took no action on that. You heard what you wanted to hear,” Corson said.
“Curtis…” Palombo can be heard saying in a quiet warning to his fellow committeeman.
“I heard what was recommended,” Roash said.
“No decision has been made at this point,” Palombo said, with the exception of East Randolph.
The matter will require more discussion, Palombo said.
“At some point we’re going to have to have some sort of general meeting in Strathmere but we’re not going to do it until we get through this COVID thing,” he said. “I can assure you nothing will be done this summer.”
The back-and-forth between Roash and Corson was not done, with Roash questioning Corson’s recent visit to his neighborhood.
“You’re not going to tell me I can’t do my job,” Corson said. Roash responded that Corson said he was going to speak to neighbors about the crowded conditions.
“You didn’t do that. You didn’t ask us anything,” he said.
Another Strathmere parking issue raised at the meeting related to parking spaces reserved for the disabled. Kathleen Dugan wants one in front of her home on Commonwealth Avenue. She does not have a driveway and has limited mobility, she told committee members.
“It is extremely difficult to get a parking space,” she said. She wants a space for her use in front of her property.
“We can’t do that,” said township attorney Dan Young. “We can put a handicapped space there, but it can’t be just for your property.”
Young said as he understands the law, a parking space may be reserved for people with physical limitations and a sticker or plate for their vehicle, but because it is on public property, it cannot be for a specific individual.
Dugan disagreed, saying she has seen them in other areas. Young said he would research further.
“Everyone has a handicapped sticker now,” she said. “It’s extremely frustrating when I come down and the town is packed with people. I have to ride around for three blocks and look for a spot.”
Corson suggested a more thorough exploration into handicapped parking spaces in Strathmere. One that was put in place at the request of a neighbor is no longer needed, he said, and another placed near Mildred’s Restaurant could also be moved because the restaurant closed.
“Let’s identify the correct place to put the handicapped spots. I’m not saying eliminate handicapped parking in Strathmere,” Corson said.
Dietrich said the beach crossovers at Williams and Putnam avenues have walkways that meet accessibility standards under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Those already have reserved parking for disabled drivers, but he suggested the township put the two removed from other locations there as well.