Council approves student's request to remove parking

Newark City Council on Monday unanimously approved a student’s request to remove three parking spaces in front of his house on North Chapel Street.

Senior Ben Capon said parked cars along the street block a driver’s view and make pulling out of his driveway dangerous.

“It’s a crapshoot pulling out,” Capon told council. “I’m afraid someone will hit me.”

Capon, who lives at 43 N. Chapel St., and his neighbors share a parking lot behind the houses. Drivers pulling out of the shared driveway onto North Chapel Street can’t see vehiclescoming down either side of the street due to the cars parked at the unmetered spots in front of the houses, he said.

Two of his neighbors have been clipped by another vehicle while attempting to pull out of the driveway, Capon said.

Though Newark police opposed the plan, council approved it with little discussion, agreeing with a recommendation by the city’s traffic committee.

Police say removal of the parking spaces could lead to speeding on North Chapel Street.

“It is a natural reaction for people to slow down when coming down a narrow street, and the parked cars make it seem narrow,” Lt. George Stanko of the Newark police’s parking division said at the Nov. 17 traffic committee meeting. “By removing the cars, it will only increase the oncoming traffic’s speed, not decrease it.”

Police chief Paul Tiernan told council that Newark police reached a compromise with Capon that would remove the three spots closest to the driveway. Capon had originally requested that six spots be removed.

“All the way down to Cleveland [Avenue], we can’t see anything coming,” Capon said.

The traffic committee’s review of the area’s accident history since 2007 found three accidents caused by pulling out of driveways onto North Chapel Street.

After the meeting, Capon expressed frustration that the issue took so long to resolve. He said he began complaining about the issue in September, but the traffic committee tabled the measure for further review before eventually sending it to council for final approval.

Still, he was pleased at council’s decision.

“I’m happy about that,” Capon said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Capon said he was told the three parking spaces would be marked off with yellow paint on the curb, but officials have not said when the painting will occur.
 

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4 comments

katie

Tue Jan 26 2010 15:21

such a bogus explanation! the narrow street does not make people slow down. i always speed up on north chapel to try to make the main street light. it's like a little game i play...

anyway, congrats to capon. this is a completely relevant news story for a college paper. a student is getting something changed by taking action. why shouldn't it be covered?

Your name

Tue Jan 26 2010 13:42

This was an actual story? Seriously? The Review has printed some ridiculous pieces in the past (a certain sex column comes to mind), but how was this even worth the 5 minutes it took someone to type it up? I've resisted commenting in the past, but c'mon...

This "newspaper" has never made for a particularly stimulating read. Standard formula: 1) bash administration for something nobody really cares about ("But see how indignant we are!"), 2) bash city or UD police using incomplete facts and whiny statements from students, 3) do fluff piece about some student appearing on Jeopardy/winning yo-yo championship/achieving other marginally interesting accomplishment, 4) insert as many questionable journalistic practices/spelling and grammar mistakes as possible, 5) repeat.

Maybe this university will eventually get a real student newspaper, but until then I guess I should just be grateful for the weekly laughs.

dan

Tue Jan 26 2010 11:41

what a dope comment. must be a townie. finally a student brings a real issue , in a genuine way and the police oppose it! hilarious. Maybe we should wait until someone else dies before the police will react and give us some kind of filler statement like, "We are doing everything we can and we will address this issue with Borough Council" bla bla bla. Another indication of stupid governmental employees. It shoudl have never taken this kid so long to get this done. Also, that explanation from the chief of police was the dumbest thing i have heard this week.

Ted

Tue Jan 26 2010 08:53

Better yet, keep the spaces, cover up his driveway and add another space there. There's nothing that says the city needs to give his property street access.

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