If you’ve been parking a commercial vehicle on Kearny’s streets — especially during the overnight hours — it’s time to make other plans. And that is because the town’s governing body recently adopted an update to the town’s overnight parking ordinance, and it calls for such parking to be banned, daily, from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. in residential areas.
The ordinance was unanimously adopted at last week’s meeting of the Mayor and Town Council.
Here are some of the most important aspects of the ordinance — and what makes a vehicle a “commercial vehicle.”
For the sake of the new law, commercial vehicles are those used to transport people for hire, those used for the transport of property, materials, cargo, equipment or tools, it has more than four wheels, weighs more than 5 tons, is taller than 9.5 feet, is longer than 18 feet, is more than 7 feet wide, contains equipment or cargo cages or racks, includes commercial or business lettering or graphics, is registered commercially (to include taxis, buses, limos, farm equipment, commuter vans or school vehicles.
Moving trucks and dumpsters are not affected by the ordinance. The ordinance also doesn’t apply to any vehicle, the driver of which, is in the process of providing work or services (deliveries, couriers, utility workers, etc.) And it does not apply to bigger personal vehicles such as a Ford F-150 that are typically used for personal purposes.
Initially, residents will be given warnings before being slapped with tickets, but once that short grace period is over, April 15, fines of $150 per instance could be levied by police or parking-violation officers.
The adoption of this ordinance is the first in what likely will be others governing parking in Kearny. Over the last year, the governing body hosted a series of public meetings to seek input from residents. After that process finished, members of the Town Council submitted their priorities from notes and comments to Mayor Carol Jean Doyle. Further adjustments to how the parking dilemma is addressed, especially in residential areas of the First and Second wards, are forthcoming.
One aspect of it all that appears to be DOA is the concept of a parking utility or authority. During the input process, residents came out vehemently against such an entity — and that includes the creation of a parking-sticker system.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.