AVALON — As some prepare to pull their boats from water for winter, Borough Council continues its discussion on boat and trailer parking.
Councilman Joseph Tipping has led an effort to resolve the borough’s boat and trailer parking issue. He presented an update during council’s meeting Sept. 23 that included a survey of other county municipalities’ boat and trailer parking regulations.
Towns surveyed include Cape May Point, West Wildwood, Lower Township, Sea Isle City and neighboring Stone Harbor.
Tipping cited that Sea Isle City has the toughest regulations with no boat or utility trailers permitted on the street at any time, regardless of weight, with no seasonal fluctuation.
Stone Harbor allows boat parking in designated areas with a required permit to park in the municipal parking lot at 81st Street and Sunset Drive during the boating season.
Lower Township will allow boat trailer parking on the street for two hours. Wildwood Crest permits no parking on streets year-round unless to load and unload and requires that boats and trailers are stored inside a building.
Cape May Point forbids parking in yards or public right of way all year and has a three-day limit for street parking, which requires follow-up enforcement.
“How can we stop them from parking on their own property?” Councilman Richard Dean asked.
Solicitor Stephen Barse said it could be upheld if a reasonable and legitimate purpose is present, like if there is a setback issue, obstruction or even for the sake of aesthetics.
Council introduced, and nearly passed, an ordinance to regulate boats, trailers and large vehicles in May 2008 but it made history as Mayor Martin Pagliughi’s first and only veto to date in his 17-plus years as mayor.
Pagliughi said it seemed to create a hardship for construction workers on the island.
The vetoed ordinance aimed to prohibit vehicles in excess of four tons from parking on the street, except to make deliveries and it would exclude borough-owned vehicles; all trailers regardless of licenses and registration would not be able to park on a street in excess of 48 hours in any seven day period. It applied to both commercial and non-commercial vehicles and trailers.
A committee of council members, contractors, property owners and enforcement officials met June 3, 2008 to discuss the regulation of trailers and large vehicles to pool feedback.
Suggestions for a compromise included designating a parking lot in which contractors could park work vehicles, implementing a paid parking permit for borough residents to park trailers on the street in front of their property and amending the ordinance to address commercial and non-commercial vehicles and trailers separately.
Planning/Zoning board officials and distraught residents had recommended an ordinance.
Tipping said the trailers are a parking concern during the tourist season, a safety concern for visibility in pulling out from driveways and, in some cases, an aesthetic issue.
Tipping previously surveyed the borough and said he found most trailers were in compliance; he said over 211 trailers were parked on properties and only 10 were on the street.
Ellenberg said the ordinance was promoted by residents’ complaints of a safety issue in visibility backing out of their driveway.
“No one is trying to create a hardship for contractors,” Ellenberg said during previous discussion. He suggested the borough establish an overnight public parking area for boats and trailers.
One contractor said he would pay for a parking permit but he would rather have his equipment secured near his property, rather than in a designated trailer parking lot where he feared tools could be stolen.
“Some towns seem to take a narrow view of this,” Tipping said. “It’s a tough problem.”
He noted that construction workers need to make a living, the borough is a resort town with many boaters and residents are concerned for hazards.
“Slowly but surely we’re gathering input,” he said.
Tipping said he would compile recommendations for an October meeting update.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck@cmcherald.com.
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