Autos jammed in on the Saturday of Bridgefest. Delaware Avenue. Blogfinger photo, June 25, 2016
Paul: I’m sad to leave, but on the other hand, logistics in Ocean Grove are not favorable for aging Baby Boomers. It’s unbelievable to me that even Arlington Court, a 55-plus coop complex, has no parking spots for its senior (not me of course!) residents.
One of my neighbors in Arlington told me that she’d invited her elderly (but still driving) mother down to visit but her mother turned her down because she’d have to park too far away. It’s hard to understand why those responsible for development in the town allowed this to happen. It’s a major inconvenience that affects so many aspects of people’s daily lives.
Fran Hopkins
June 26, 2016
Editor’s note: Do you get far away eyes when this subject comes up? Here are the Rolling Stones:
Jack. I agree with you about Fran. She is a voice of reason. And, if you read the last sentence* of her comment, you will see that the parking issue, for we residents, is about much more than just parking.
* “It’s a major inconvenience that affects so many aspects of people’s daily lives.”
Fran Hopkins, who has the remarkable ability to look at any subject, cut through the ‘smoke and mirrors’, and make a knowledgeable assessment is just what Ocean Grove needed at this critical point in time.
Ocean Grove’s loss is another town’s gain.
There is another aspect to the parking issues, north of Main and south of Main. As stated, the town was laid out before the advent of the auto. The North End consists of very short, narrow, one way streets. There isn’t a real east/west thoroughfare; everything stops at the Auditorium. Even in the off season, parking is an issue. Between warehoused cars and people ignoring the alternate parking regs during snow emergencies or street cleanings our streets never get cleared properly. My street is so short and narrow, half the time the street sweeper or the big snow truck can’t make the turn and just pass us by.
During the season, the North End has to absorb all the tenters, seasonal owners and event goers. Adding to that is the fact that more than half the homes are multi-family with an inordinate amount of condos. Add the nearness of A P attractions and parking is a lost cause most of the time.
The South End has wider streets, many two way, and larger building lots with plentiful, compared to the North End, east/west thoroughfares. It’s almost as if there are two completely different towns in one.
Nancy I drive a small car and live out of state. The other owners same situation. That makes three of us who pay taxes and have no alternative transportation opportunities. I live on a street with plenty of parking but three of my neighbors for the last 10 years use three spaces for two cars. They have perfected the art of space consumption. We double park to unload our cars and move them a block away which perpetuates the selfish parking. Your approach does not add realistic issues to the table. However the more dialogue the better.
Nancy. Your analysis of the parking mess is pretty weak. As Jack points out, the problem is complicated. The size of cars is a minor factor, but you are right, it seems like everyone is driving giant vehicles these days. Other factors contributing to the problem include the way people park—–saving spaces, failure of CMA to provide busing for big events, and having too many big events which tie up the town. We had three such mega-mania-festivals in June alone.
Another reason we have this mess is that special interests with special favors from Neptune Township are allowed to develop projects that aggravate parking and density problems. Jack points out the condoization of Ocean Grove (without parking) which continues after many years and may get worse, and there are worrisome pending projects such as the North End Redevelopment Plan.
The “economy” of the town is mostly an issue for the merchants. Many of us wish for a home-town sort of down-town with a news-stand, a pharmacy, a cleaners, a barber, a florist, a quality deli, a neighborhood coffee shop, etc. The merchants are for the tourists, and what they do results in more congestion and parking problems (such as what is happening or going to happen at #50 and #60 Main Avenue; and what has happened at Mary’s Place where two single family homes were supposed to have been zoned.) The failure to follow state RSIS standards continues to haunt us.
Fran Hopkins asks how the town developed into a parking mess. We can look at history, such as Nancy who looks back to the horse and buggy. But there are other current issues which have evolved to make matters worse. We have individuals who warehouse cars on our streets. There are commercial vehicles such as pickup trucks and vans which should not be kept on our narrow avenues. Some rarely get moved. We have modern families, sometimes as few as two people, who have 3-4 cars.
The popularity of our town has brought more and more daytrippers to the Grove besides those who come for events which sometimes attract thousands of people for concerts or giant market festivals. Along with the flea seekers come the flea vendors. The CMA and the Chamber of Commerce schedule many crowded events all season, and now there will be more during the off season.
On the streets, in addition to dumpsters, we now have pods which seem to stay too long.
And even the homeowners contribute, full and part timers, who love the Grove so much that they bring large numbers of friends and family here; and, yes, that is just fine–as it should be. Yesterday I drove by a home where tables were set up, and an entire family was having a banquet on their front yard—it looked wonderful.
And how about those “shoulder months” such as May, June, September, October where events are occurring more and more.
And really annoying we notice a growing number of A. Parkers using our streets as a place to dump their cars while they amble off to join the fun and games in the north country.
I bet we can think of some other reasons why we have parking problems beyond Nancy’s simplistic analysis. Jack talks about moving parts, and he is right regarding the complexity of these matters. The fact is that despite the increasing activities here, the number of spaces and the size of Ocean Grove remain the same. Will the new parking task force make progress? What do you think?
Some people say that we residents should just accept what is happening and then leave if we don’t like it—they say pay no mind to the way that these trends smother our life-styles. But such acquiescence is a mistake.
We need to ask two questions, “Whom is this town for and who will plan a proper direction for it?”
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger (Sorry for the long comment–as Mel Brooks famously said, “It’s good to be the king.”
Thanks, Nancy. Since parking space has always been at a premium in Ocean Grove, it’s even more puzzling to me that the RSIS standards have been ignored and multi-unit construction has been allowed without providing for parking. Since as you say, the addition of driveways and garages isn’t allowed, then this additional construction shouldn’t have been permitted if the Township had been following state law.
I definitely agree that Ocean Grove needs visitors! But it appears that the Township prefers to attract a younger crowd, for whom parking–i.e., having to walk significant distances to get to the people or place you’re visiting–isn’t a major issue. I heard a bit of this at the March OGHOA meeting, when one or two attendees suggested that Ocean Grove parking isn’t so bad–you should see Tribeca or Hoboken!
If the town truly cared about inconveniencing residents and their visiting families and friends, some of whom are unable to “walk everywhere,” then it wouldn’t have followed this path and enabled the parking problem to become even worse.
The town, with its available curb space, was built before cars. And for during the years of no cars on Sunday, it was to the residents’ advantage to not have cars, or more than one. People walked everywhere in town.
As part of preservation efforts, we are not allowed to tear down houses, or replace them, with driveways and garages.
And to maintain the town’s economy, we need the visitors who come here in the summer.
Until everyone drives very small cars, with only one per dwelling, parking is an issue.