Room needed for emergency vehicles on some streets
By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
UPPER TOWNSHIP – An ordinance setting new limits on parking in Strathmere could be ready for introduction at the Township Committee meeting Feb. 22.
Four streets could have parking limited to one side under the current proposal. After the initial vote, any ordinance would need to be advertised, with residents getting a chance to comment at a public hearing before a final vote.
As outlined at a recent committee meeting, parking could be limited on West Prescott Avenue, West Putnam Avenue, East Randolph Avenue and along the northernmost stretch of North Bayview Drive.
The issue arose over the summer, when members of the Strathmere Volunteer Fire Company raised concerns about overcrowded streets. In some instances, cars parked on either side of narrow streets did not leave enough room for emergency vehicles to pass, leading to safety concerns.
Corson said he discussed the proposal with members of the fire company before recommending an ordinance. He said the firefighters reminded him to include East Randolph in the list of limits. That is a short section of narrow road between Commonwealth Avenue and the beach.
Later in the summer, property owners and residents complained that the beachfront section of the town was intensely overcrowded. Ironically, one often-cited reason was that many more people sought the relative quiet of Strathmere’s beaches to ensure social distance due to COVID-19. Whatever the reason, many Strathmere regulars said they have never seen the community as crowded.
A committee was formed to address the issue. That included input from a parking expert.
On Feb. 8, Committeeman Curtis Corson presented the recommendations of the committee, including one to introduce beach tags to the resort for the first time. (See related story). He also recommended the new parking limits, along with marking the required setbacks from existing driveways, fire hydrants and safety zones with yellow paint.
“There’s a couple places people can’t even get out of their driveways if someone’s parked on the other side of the street,” Corson said.
“I think what needs to be stressed here is, this isn’t going to be an overnight thing with the parking issues that we’ve had,” said Committeeman Ed Barr, who also participated in the parking discussions this winter. “This is pretty much the tip of the iceberg. What we’re doing is with the assistance of the fire department, we’re looking at public safety issues right now.”
An amended ordinance only addresses the immediate public safety need. Over time, he said, and through zoning changes, the township will need to update the infrastructure of the beach community.
“We’re going to have to widen streets to address some of these issues,” Barr said.
The parking committee members did not know the exact number of parking spaces that would be lost.
“We’ll lose a few,” Barr said, while Corson said he believed it would be about 12 spaces. More spots would be lost with better road marking, he added.
“But they were illegal parking spots anyhow,” Corson said. “If we lose an illegal parking spot we haven’t really lost anything.”
Mayor Rich Palombo was not sure how property owners would react to curbs being painted around driveways.
Other suggestions were rejected, Corson told the committee members. One would have limited all of Strathmere to parking on one side of each street. He said that would not leave enough parking even for the homeowners.
Another envisioned one-way streets in the community.
“There’s pros and cons to them. One-way streets are notorious for devaluing property. A lot of people don’t want to live on a one-way street,” he said, adding that Strathmere is too narrow to make the idea practical. “I don’t think it warrants one-way streets, and that committee seemed to agree with me.”
Further changes could include moving the parking spaces dedicated to handicapped drivers. Corson suggested the two spaces close to the former Mildred’s Restaurant no longer need to be there, advocating for them to be relocated to the beaches with dedicated accessible entrances.
Township attorney Dan Young said he could have an ordinance ready for introduction fairly quickly, but raised another tangle: who will enforce the parking ordinance? The State Police Woodbine Barracks provides police protection for the entire township, including the community of Strathmere.
“The State Police indicated initially that they would like to do the enforcement, but then recently they indicated they’d rather not do the enforcement,” he said. That could potentially include writing parking tickets or even overseeing the towing of vehicles. “We would need to figure out how we’re going to enforce that.”
That could mean a shared service agreement with another municipality, he said, which would need to be negotiated, and the township may need to contract with a towing company.
“Obviously, we don’t have an enforcement deal in place yet. We’re working at that. But I would like to get the ordinances introduced and done on the one-side-of-the-street parking on the four streets that we mentioned,” Corson said.
“I think we should move forward with that,” said Committeewoman Kim Hayes.
At the same meeting, the committee unanimously approved a resolution requesting the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Parks and Forestry “implement the necessary safety measures for enforcement” in the Corson’s Inlet State Park in the north end of Strathmere.
Previously, Corson has complained of problems in the park, including excessive drinking. The park straddles the inlet, including a swath of the south end of Ocean City and a smaller section on the Strathmere side.