Parking to be restricted on two streets near FHS
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Residents who live on Douglas Road and Runyon Avenue in Freehold Borough may be pleased to know their streets will now be designated as permit parking streets.

Residents who live on streets near Freehold High School, Broadway, had asked the members of the Borough Council to do something about the problem of high school students parking on their streets and taking up most of the spots during the day.

The council's response on Nov. 19 was to adopt an ordinance that designates Douglas Road and Runyon Avenue as parking permit areas between 7-9 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Douglas Road will have permit parking on both sides for the entire length of the street. Runyon Avenue will have permit parking from the intersection of Douglas Road to the intersection of Mead Avenue.

The ordinance states that Freehold Borough Police Chief Mitchell Roth conducted a traffic study which revealed that the residential streets are filled with parked cars associated with the high school, creating a hardship for residents of those streets.

Roth recommended that the mayor and council change the existing parking ordinance for Douglas Road and Runyon Avenue to parking by permit only from the hours of 7-9 a.m. (coinciding with the first two hours of the school day at Freehold High School).

The ordinance states that no vehicle is allowed to be parked on the designated areas of Douglas Road or Runyon Avenue between 7-9 a.m. unless the vehicle is owned or operated on a regular basis by a resident of those streets and the vehicle has a current residential parking permit displayed, or unless the vehicle falls under a specific exemption listed in the ordinance.

Borough Attorney Kerry Higgins said although someone could park a vehicle without a permit on the permit parking designated streets after 9 a.m., the number of hours permitted would be subject to borough code.

Vehicles exempt from the parking permit ordinance are visitors who may use a visitor permit for up to 7 days. Contractors, service and delivery vehicles are also exempt. Emergency vehicles and utility companies may park within the permit area during the time they are rendering repairs or services.

Each resident will be given two visitor permits.

Application for a parking permit must be made in writing on forms available from the Freehold Borough municipal clerk. Permits will be granted only to residents who live on Douglas Road or Runyon Avenue or portions of the streets. A permanent permit valid for two years will be issued for every vehicle owned or principally owned by such a resident on parking permit restricted streets.

The new regulations in Freehold Borough mirror parking restrictions that Freehold Township officials adopted several years ago for residential streets in the vicinity of Freehold Township High School, Elton-Adelphia Road. Residents there also complained about students taking up all of the spaces on their residential streets.