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Delanco residents urge committee not to roll back riverfront parking restrictions; committee delays action
Summary
Residents urged Delanco’s township committee to keep existing permit-parking hours on Delaware Avenue and Hawk Island, opposing a proposal to start permit hours at 'sunrise.' The committee heard multiple public comments and agreed to delay a vote until all members can participate.
A wave of residents asked the Delanco Township Committee on July 13 to preserve current permit-parking hours on the riverfront and nearby side streets rather than adopt a proposed change that would shift the start time to "sunrise." Committee members heard extended public comment and then postponed a final vote until the absent member can participate.
Nancy Albrust, who said she lives on 228 Maple Avenue, called “sunrise” a subjective and seasonally variable standard and warned that allowing parking earlier would risk returning problems—noise, litter and trespass—that the current restrictions addressed. "It would be a shame to roll back these hours," she said, adding that residents who maintain the riverfront should not lose the quiet that current rules afford.
Other long-time residents recounted the problems that led to the original restrictions. Jay Cohen, who said he has lived on Delaware Avenue for 38 years, described past incidents of drug dealing, loud music and theft along the riverbank and said those problems largely stopped after the signs and enforcement were put in place. Joan Cohen and Lynn Whitney echoed the view that the ordinance was "not broken" and suggested more targeted changes—such as moving the start time to a specific hour (for example 7 a.m. or 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.) or adding handicap parking—rather than adopting a sunrise/sunset standard.
One committee member addressed comments from the prior meeting in which residents said they had been labeled "elitist." The member apologized for the wording, said it was not intended as a personal label, and emphasized the committee’s duty to balance neighborhood concerns with the rights of all Delanco residents. Several committee members said they were inclined not to change the ordinance "if it's not broken," though some supported adjustments such as permitting all township residents to obtain permits or assessing handicap parking near the riverfront.
Because a committee member who originally raised the issue was absent, the township chair said the body would not take official action that night and would revisit the ordinance at the next meeting. The committee also discussed other suggestions that appeared in correspondence, including moving a fence at Hawk Island to create a small visitor parking area; staff noted that land-use protections may limit changes to the Hawk Island footprint.
