Parking Situation on Maplewood Avenue

jmitw said:

in the original pic, there barrier is NOT apparent, would it have been too much to simply say that it is there, rather than a snotty attack?

 on your side, why not ask if there were any stronger barriers anywhere instead of immediately jumping to the conclusion that the township would do a half-assed job that put people in jeopardy?


mrincredible said:

Moammar said:



And let's install a tram to downtown South Orange while we're at it.

 This is an idea I love. A quiet electric tram that travels from Maplewood Village to South Orange and back. Make a loop.

 There used to be one! It ran along Valley and the river from the empty lot next to DCH on Valley in Millburn to downtown West Orange.  


I think I'll be eating at home until around 2025.


Re: The tents across from Arturos. The purpose of outdoor dining, is that air flow diffuses the virus. The virus needs a high concentration in order to infect us.

The blue tents have one side folded down. This blocks air flow and defeats the purpose of outdoor dining as a reduced exposure to the virus.


Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Re: The tents across from Arturos. The purpose of outdoor dining, is that air flow diffuses the virus. The virus needs a high concentration in order to infect us.

The blue tents have one side folded down. This blocks air flow and defeats the purpose of outdoor dining as a reduced exposure to the virus.

 It's an area where the state should have been more specific, perhaps?


STANV said:

mrincredible said:

Now one can park by the train station and walk over for an outdoor dining experience!!!!

Just for fun, I'll throw this out there.  Turn Maplewood Avenue into a one'way running from Durand down to Lenox. Put the driving lane on the side on the side closest to the train station and widen the sidewalk all the way across where the current parking spots are.  Make permanent outdoor dining areas for the restaurants along that stretch and maybe allow some food carts or a small performance gazebo or something along those lines.


Have at it! 

 I will sign your petition

OTOH what about Lorena's, Village Coffee, the Sushi place? So, better idea, from Woodland Ave to Baker Ave make the whole thing a Pedestrian Mall.

I have often wondered why we would not make the whole Maplewood Ave area between Durand and Baker St into a pedestrian mall (no cars allowed at all). It is not a through street, so it shouldn't be a traffic problem. You could keep the parking lot behind Lorena's open, and also the train station parking lot it connects to, so the loss of parking spots would be minimal. I am sure they could figure out some solution for supplying King's and others via the back. It would create a great, European style, town center with outside dining, cafe terraces, etc. I am pretty sure it would attract quite a bit of traffic and therefore revenue. What's not to like?


gerritn said:

What's not to like?

 The increased traffic where the detours would lead. These are local side streets.


joan_crystal said:

 I assume you mean from Woodland Road to Baker Street.  Woodland Road does not intersect with Maplewood Avenue.  Are you suggesting the entire Village neighborhood be turned into a pedestrian mall?  Great for pedestrians but what about deliveries to restaurants and businesses; and handicapped access for those who can't handle the hills, or the stairways from park side?  At the very least, there would need to be delivery hours when the area is open to vehicles and some form of accessible shuttle from available parking to a designated drop off/pick up point.

 Thank you for the correction. The problems you cite are not insurmountable. Delivery trucks could enter from North of Durrand and exit thru the parking across from Kings or turn up Woodland and deliver to the adjacent businesses or through the alleyway next to Village Trattoria to the businesses on Highland. Trucks could also use Baker Street. As to handicapped access there is no change as to the hills or access from the park side but it should be simple enough to build a ramp by the three steps from the park side to the train tunnel which leads to the parking lot between the Clarus and Village Coffee.


STANV said:

 Thank you for the correction. The problems you cite are not insurmountable. Delivery trucks could enter from North of Durrand and exit thru the parking across from Kings or turn up Woodland and deliver to the adjacent businesses or through the alleyway next to Village Trattoria to the businesses on Highland. Trucks could also use Baker Street. As to handicapped access there is no change as to the hills or access from the park side but it should be simple enough to build a ramp by the three steps from the park side to the train tunnel which leads to the parking lot between the Clarus and Village Coffee.

 I love the idea of a ramp by the park side of the south tunnel.  Unfortunately, this would have to be done by or with the permission of NJT and they have been reluctant up to now to make any of their area handicapped accessible.  Regarding delivery trucks, since the railway bridge over Baker is higher than the other two to the north, trucks which have problem with clearance would have to continue approaching the Village from the south (Baker).  Too many trucks over the years have had their top sheered off trying to pass under either the Jefferson or the Parker bridge.  Alternative would be for them to travel down residential streets from South Orange Avenue or Millburn Avenue instead of going down Valley Street. Regarding handicapped parking, persons with handicapped tags who do not require van access often park in the head in parking spots on Maplewood Avenue closest to their destination.  A lot of these  spaces are now turned into either outdoor restaurants or 15 minute parking zones.  I agree none of this is insurmountable but it needs to be taken into consideration in drafting a final traffic flow plan.  Pedestrian access has also become a problem.  I noticed today with tables both on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant and in the parklet directly across from these tables, there is insufficient room for a pedestrian to maintain social distancing while passing unmasked restaurant patrons.  This is another argument in favor of a pedestrian mall if we want to maximize the amount of outdoor public space made available to local businesses.


Anyone have issues - I got lucky today, it feels like we have fewer and fewer spots with the dining tents.  And still have quite a lot of pick up only spots.

Parking on the train side and walking under is a solution too.  But it feels like as things get back to normal it's getting a bit tougher.   And with Greenway now open, I'm sure this will have an impact as well.


Is Arturo's paying rent to the town for the indoor dining they've built on the sidewalk?


The St James Gate outdoor dining is also looking very solid and permanent.


yahooyahoo said:

Is Arturo's paying rent to the town for the indoor dining they've built on the sidewalk?

Do you think it should? The outdoor dining ordinance doesn’t mention fees. In any case, Arturo’s enclosure of its outdoor table space predated the pandemic, if that makes any difference.

https://ecode360.com/9420152


If the township eliminates outdoor seating shouldn't they impose a vaccine mandate for indoor dining then? There are still people who don't feel comfortable eating indoors among the unvaxxed. It wouldn't be good for business to alien a large segment of vaccinated people, would it?


ml1 said:

If the township eliminates outdoor seating shouldn't they impose a vaccine mandate for indoor dining then? There are still people who don't feel comfortable eating indoors among the unvaxxed. It wouldn't be good for business to alien a large segment of vaccinated people, would it?

I would be fine with that. We were in NYC, Philly and DC last month . All had it.  We were also in Florida, they did not. 


ml1 said:

If the township eliminates outdoor seating shouldn't they impose a vaccine mandate for indoor dining then? There are still people who don't feel comfortable eating indoors among the unvaxxed. It wouldn't be good for business to alien a large segment of vaccinated people, would it?

At the most recent township committee meeting, there was a discussion of whether there should be a vaccine mandate (with or without a recent negative COVID  - 19  test option) for town sponsored events or at least town sponsored in person gatherings for seniors.  The proposal is being examined to determine if it is legal for the town to do this when the state does not have such a mandate.  Hopefully, we will hear something further by the December 7th meeting.  Hopefully, South Orange will look into this as well.  As the number of cases of COVID - 19 rise in NJ and in person gatherings  increasingly move indoors, we need to take a serious look at what we are doing locally to defeat the virus. 


Redfruit said:

ml1 said:

If the township eliminates outdoor seating shouldn't they impose a vaccine mandate for indoor dining then? There are still people who don't feel comfortable eating indoors among the unvaxxed. It wouldn't be good for business to alien a large segment of vaccinated people, would it?

I would be fine with that. We were in NYC, Philly and DC last month . All had it.  We were also in Florida, they did not. 

The indoor vaccination mandate is a joke, at least in NYC.  Very few restaurants/bars are enforcing it.


yahooyahoo said:

Redfruit said:

ml1 said:

If the township eliminates outdoor seating shouldn't they impose a vaccine mandate for indoor dining then? There are still people who don't feel comfortable eating indoors among the unvaxxed. It wouldn't be good for business to alien a large segment of vaccinated people, would it?

I would be fine with that. We were in NYC, Philly and DC last month . All had it.  We were also in Florida, they did not. 

The indoor vaccination mandate is a joke, at least in NYC.  Very few restaurants/bars are enforcing it.

every place I’ve been to this year that had a vaccine or test mandate, from Citi Field, to City Winery, to restaurants to the Sea Hear Now festival asked for documentation. It would be naive of me to think everyone enforces it. But for those that don’t it’s then up to the customer to decide whether or not to go in. 


Last week - so maybe it has changed - Luna Stella had a sign on the door explaining that they were closed. I don't remember the all the reasons but seemed understandable -  pandemic, staffing, etc. But still their tables and chairs were in the street taking up parking spaces.  That struck me as odd. 


finnegan said:

Last week - so maybe it has changed - Luna Stella had a sign on the door explaining that they were closed. I don't remember the all the reasons but seemed understandable -  pandemic, staffing, etc. But still their tables and chairs were in the street taking up parking spaces.  That struck me as odd. 

they should have to remove those tables etc

I am totally fine with all open eating establishments keeping the outdoor table set ups


I have a problem with keeping outdoor table setups when they extend into handicapped parking spaces.  There is a van accessible handicapped parking space in front of Kims Nails that has been covered by an outdoor eating parklet since restaurants started putting outdoor eating areas in the street.  The space has not been lost, not moved elsewhere.  This is a serious disservice to those who rely on handicapped parking in the Village. 


Im not sure that the number of 15 Minute Pick-up spots is warranted.    Things have changed since last summer. It is frustrating to ride past unoccupied take out parking spaces.


Formerlyjerseyjack said:

Im not sure that the number of 15 Minute Pick-up spots is warranted.    Things have changed since last summer. It is frustrating to ride past unoccupied take out parking spaces.

The Town doesn't enforce any parking rules.  You might as well take the 15 minute spot.


yahooyahoo said:

The Town doesn't enforce any parking rules.  You might as well take the 15 minute spot.

Not true.  Enforcement may be sporadic and some areas may get more frequent enforcement than others; but, the town still employs parking enforcement personnel.


joan_crystal said:

yahooyahoo said:

The Town doesn't enforce any parking rules.  You might as well take the 15 minute spot.

Not true.  Enforcement may be sporadic and some areas may get more frequent enforcement than others; but, the town still employs parking enforcement personnel.

The Town still employs parking enforcement personnel but they aren't doing their jobs effectively.


yahooyahoo said:

joan_crystal said:

yahooyahoo said:

The Town doesn't enforce any parking rules.  You might as well take the 15 minute spot.

Not true.  Enforcement may be sporadic and some areas may get more frequent enforcement than others; but, the town still employs parking enforcement personnel.

The Town still employs parking enforcement personnel but they aren't doing their jobs effectively.

low blow. He’s a good guy who works hard. Bad form. 


Redfruit said:

yahooyahoo said:

joan_crystal said:

yahooyahoo said:

The Town doesn't enforce any parking rules.  You might as well take the 15 minute spot.

Not true.  Enforcement may be sporadic and some areas may get more frequent enforcement than others; but, the town still employs parking enforcement personnel.

The Town still employs parking enforcement personnel but they aren't doing their jobs effectively.

low blow. He’s a good guy who works hard. Bad form. 

The truth hurts.  There are people parking illegally in the village ALL THE TIME.  I rarely see anyone get a ticket.  Now that Greenway has opened, there is the daily clusterf*ck in front of the store.


yahooyahoo said:

Redfruit said:

yahooyahoo said:

joan_crystal said:

yahooyahoo said:

The Town doesn't enforce any parking rules.  You might as well take the 15 minute spot.

Not true.  Enforcement may be sporadic and some areas may get more frequent enforcement than others; but, the town still employs parking enforcement personnel.

The Town still employs parking enforcement personnel but they aren't doing their jobs effectively.

low blow. He’s a good guy who works hard. Bad form. 

The truth hurts.  There are people parking illegally in the village ALL THE TIME.  I rarely see anyone get a ticket.  Now that Greenway has opened, there is the daily clusterf*ck in front of the store.

hey, If you got a fetish for meter maids, South orange is for you. However, if you need to park in Maplewood, try using one of the transit spots since there’s a bunch of them available everyday. 


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