During the latest Deptford Township Council meeting, members discussed regulating the town’s commercial parking for some of its streets.
Township Manager Thomas Newman asked council members to consider taking action in regard to safety concerns with commercial and trailer parking on Cumberland Avenue.
“We don’t take lightly regulating our streets. On the other hand, some of these streets just aren’t meant for this stuff,” said Mayor Paul Medany.
Some residents are parking large commercial vehicles on public streets, coming too close to neighbors’ driveways and blocking incoming traffic.
There’s an issue with one resident who has a 35-foot camper, according to the township.
“Some folks are going to come like they have in the past and say, ‘look, where do you want me to park this thing?’ But at some point we have to protect the roads because the roads are for everybody,” said Medany.
It’s been a reoccurring issue for years, according to Newman. Now, the town is finally ready to consider taking action to regulate where and what residents can park in the streets.
The committee is expected to discuss this issue in future meetings, but has not stated when it could be enforced.
Newman said this issue constitutes a public safety concern. The township has already taken legal action on certain issues, according to Newman.
In other news:
- Newman asked the council to consider restricting pavilion rental use to Deptford residents only for next season. The pavilions have had a lot of use the past year by residents in other towns, leaving Deptford citizens out of luck.
Newman said he received concerns that local kids did have the opportunity to get on the splash pad and residents finding that pavilions were already occupied. - The council discussed installing no parking signs on Good Intent Road at Crestview. A resident of Crestview contacted the county inquiring about no parking signs, stating the parked cars on the side of the road create a blind spot for those who are driving out of the neighborhood.
- The mayor discussed the possibility of implementing an ordinance to regulate the town’s grease traps, which regulates the maintenance and installation of grease traps so that residents don’t put grease into the town’s sanitary system. According to Medany, the Municipal Utilities Authority has asked the council to pass it as an ordinance, which will make it a law, so that it can enforce it throughout the town. The MUA has had violators in the past, but could not enforce anything, according to Medany.
