Haddonfield Today 143_2024Feb16

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34 | haddonfield.today Peeved About Parking? #143 • FEBRUARY 16 TO MARCH 8, 2024 The most common complaint, next to having to pay to park on Saturdays? The loss of 12 minutes for free. by David Hunter, publisher of Haddonfield Today › A family on my block is planning an addition to their house. A key step in the process – obtaining a variance from the Zoning Board – requires them to send Certified Mail letters to the owners of properties located within 200 feet of their home – a total of 32 addresses. We were not at home when the letter carrier brought that particular envelope to our house. Since a signature certifying receipt is required, she left a notice instead. She told me subsequently that she left notices at more than 20 of the addresses on the list. The notice lists six options for picking up the letter or arranging for a second attempt at delivery. I chose the one that appeared to be the easiest: Going the Haddonfield Post Office. Well, except … For more than 70 years, ever since they were introduced on September 1, 1950, parking meters in front of the Post Office provided 12 minutes for free. The time limit, available at the flick of a wrist, was designed to encourage drivers visiting the Post Office to park, do their business, and leave, thus making spaces available for others. It was implemented by the commissioners upon the urging of the then postmaster, Cal Semler, who pointed out that the proposed 90-minute parking limit “would not fit the post office requirements.” The Borough painted the five 12-minute meters on S. Haddon Ave a different color from the others in town. Fast-forward to September 1, 2023. With scant notice to the community, the commissioners introduced a new parking scheme that eliminated free parking on Saturdays and extended the hours of paid parking from 6pm to 8pm. The new scheme also did away with all but a few meters, and nixed the 12-minute-free period, townwide. Now, folks who work in the vicinity can park in front of the Post Office all day if they wish – well, until 4pm – inhibiting the ability of those who need to go to the Post Office from doing so conveniently and economically. It costs $1.35 to park and run a quick errand: collect mail from a box, drop an Amazon return ... or sign for a Certified Mail letter. “It’s not worth the hassle.” Post Office clerks report that some customers who used to visit daily to collect their mail from boxes have made other arrangements and that a number of eBay sellers and Amazon package-returners now drive to the Post Office in Collingswood. Folks who used to obey the law by turning the lever for the free minutes now flaunt it. They park, run in, and hope they won’t get a ticket. (I know this from observation, chatting with scofflaws, and anecdotes told by Post Office clerks.) Not everyone gets away with it. I recently watched a woman park alongside the yellow curb and next to the fire hydrant. She ran in with a package, dropped it off, ran out, jumped into her car, and then sat – fuming – while a police officer who had pulled up behind her issued a ticket. If there were still a limit on parking time in front of the Post Office, perhaps one or more spaces would have been available and she would have been able to park legally. There is limited-time parking elsewhere in town, at the Mabel Kay Senior Center, the Central/Middle School, the PATCO Station, and the sub shop on N. Haddon Ave. How can the commissioners justify permitting limited-time parking at those locations when, on any particular day, it’s likely that more drivers park – or want to park – at the Post Office than at all of the other locations combined? If the commissioners don’t believe it’s appropriate to provide convenient parking at the Post Office, they should eliminate the other zones and remove the signs. (And brace for super-hots the next time they order a hoagie.)
#143 • FEBRUARY 16 TO MARCH 8, 2024 Peeved About Parking? haddonfield.today | 35 There are 15-minute zones in other parts of town. Why not in front of the Post Office? n The 15-minute zone in front of the Mabel Kay Senior Center on Walnut Street makes it convenient for drivers to drop off or pick up folks who are visiting the center. However: Although there’s a sign that indicates where the 15-minute zone ends, there’s no sign that shows where it begins. n On Chestnut Street, opposite the Central/Middle School, the 15-minute zone makes it convenient for parents to drop off lunches for kids who inadvertently left them at home (for example). However: Signs on poles (that used to have meters on them) tell drivers they can park for an hour in a 15-minute zone. Huh? n The 15-minute zone in front of the PATCO Station is for the convenience of drivers who drop off or pick up Speedline passengers. However: That zone is under the auspices of the Port Authority, not the Borough. PATCO gets it. Why don’t the commissioners? n In front of The Bread Board Plus (N. Haddon Ave at Wayne), there’s a 15-minute zone apparently for the convenience of those picking up breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and of parents dropping off their little darlings at Tumbling on Haddon, next door. However: If you can’t stop or stand, how can you park?
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Haddonfield Today 143_2024Feb16

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