Council approves amended parking ordinance
Mt. Laurel council passed an ordinance limiting vehicles over four tons from parking on residential streets overnight.
According to solicitor Duncan Prime any vehicle over four tons will be prohibited to park in residential areas from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Residents are allowed to have one commercial vehicle per household if it is under four tons, he said.
Residents who violate the ordinance will be fined.
According to the ordinance, a $50 fine will be given for the first offense. The second offense is a $150 fine, the third offense is a $250 fine and the fourth violation will result in a fine up to $1,000 per violation and a mandatory appearance in municipal court.
But for Andrea Fuss and her family, the ordinance would pose a problem when it comes to their recreational activities.
Fuss said her family enjoys camping. She appeared at the meeting on behalf of her in-laws, who are currently in Florida with their camper, sharing her concerns that the ordinance is not giving them enough time to load and unload the camper.
“They have requested, and I am also requesting on their behalf, that if you choose to move forward with the provision of this ordinance you provide three-day window for people like us that are campers,” she said, adding sometimes it is difficult to unload the camper and transport it to the location where it is stored.
She said her in-laws’ camper is over four tons and will not fit in the driveway.
Sometimes the family does not get home until 4 or 5 p.m. By that time the storing location is closed, she said.
“We want a three day window so they can unload the vehicle and move it in a timely manner,” she said.
“We are going to do what the law says. We are just asking for three days,” Fuss said. “Our concern is that once it is in black and white we are going to be held to what’s in black and white.”
Councilman Jim Keenan said he presented Fuss’ concerns to police Chief Dennis Cribben. He assured Fuss, the ordinances intent is not for the law to go out and search for parking violators.
“The intent of this ordinance is not to go out an look for the RVs that aren’t doing exactly what the following law says. It’s to stop from the parking of trailers on the street or RV homes on the street that has become a safety hazard,” he said.
Cribben reiterated Keenan’s statement saying officers make conscientious decisions when it comes to enforcing the law. He said if someone is actively unloading and loading the camper, it would not be an issue.
“We want to stop the long term parking of these types of vehicles on our streets because of safety hazards and to free up some parking spaces for the residents that want to park next to their house,” Cribben said, adding if the ordinance gives a three-day window, it would create a loophole in the ordinance.
“We need to be able to enforce the ordinance in a reasonable and logical manner. For every extension we give it makes it more difficult to enforce,” he said.
Mayor Linda Bobo said the council’s intention is not to prohibit activities such as camping, but the issue of commercial vehicles parking on the streets was never properly addressed.
“We don’t want prohibit your activities but we do need an ordinance for those who take advantage of these situations with their boats and trailers and campers. That’s what we are trying to address,” she said.
