Ordinance would limit parking on Edgewater Dr. Public can comment at Feb. 11 meeting at 7:30 p.m. BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer MATAWAN - A new ordinance regarding parking on Edgewater Drive was introduced at the Jan. 22 Borough Council meeting and will limit street parking to the eastern side of the road. According to the ordinance, parking on the western side of Edgewater Drive from Route 34 to Westerly Place will be restricted. Residents will not be permitted to park on the west side of the road, the side with even house numbers. "It's a traffic safety problem when cars are parked on both sides of the street," said Matawan Police Officer Joe Lovallo, the borough's traffic safety coordinator. "Any issue, once it is brought to our attention, it cannot be ignored, so we looked into this and came to this conclusion." Proof of the ordinance's necessity was evident after an accident occurred on the winding road shortly before the Jan. 22 Borough Council meeting at which the ordinance was being introduced. According to Lovallo, officers were called that afternoon to the scene on Edgewater Drive in response to a car hitting a parked car while trying to maneuver the sharp turn. "We feel that due to the fact that vehicles are being parked on both sides of the narrow street, and the fact that the road is curved on a hill, it can present a traffic problem," Lovallo said. Lovallo studied the area, beginning in November, after concerned residents approached the police department about the issue. During his study, an emergency call was responded to by fire trucks, and one of the fire trucks could not get to the scene because the street was too narrow with cars parked on both sides. That fire call was to Nancy Haddock's mother's home at 11 ½ Edgewater Drive. The fire alarm went off, and police were unable to contact her, so emergency personnel were automatically sent to the scene. Haddock is enraged by the parking situation on Edgewater Drive. "It is a huge problem," Haddock, of Elizabeth, said. "So much of a problem to the point where I cannot get through to my mother's house and neither could the fire trucks and police." Haddock is at her mother's house every day and sees the problem recurring. "Well, at least they are doing something," she said after being told about the new parking ordinance. Residents at the Jan. 22 Borough Council meeting questioned where they are supposed to park if they cannot park on their street. The issue will be open for public comment at the Feb. 11 meeting at 7:30 p.m.