May 1, 2008

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.