When Aretha Busby and her fiancé were looking for a home last year in Jersey City, one of the must-haves on her list was off-street parking. “We need to come and go,” said Busby, a realtor.
The couple settled on a home in Greenville with a carport and a No Parking stripe at the foot of her driveway. But shortly after moving in, the city repaved the streets, removing the paint from her street. A once neighborly block turned into a scramble for parking. Worse, when she reached out to the Division of Parking, the office told her parking spot was illegal.
“We would have never purchased there if that was the case,” Busby told Jersey Digs.
The headache went on for months without any resolution. Once Councilwoman Denise Ridley got involved, however, peace was restored. Indeed, the parking space was confirmed legal and her long-lost sign was repainted at her driveway.
Busby is far from alone. A number of residents have come forward with similar complaints on SeeClickFix, a social media website where users can post non-emergency complaints about their neighborhoods. A resident on Pearsall Avenue recently griped that she had been waiting for two months to have her road re-striped.
Councilwoman Ridley tells residents in this situation to fill out an application with the Division of Parking. If your driveway is deemed legal, and all the fees are paid, the markings will be repainted, Ridley said.
“Anyone can submit a zoning determination request to find out if a driveway is legal or illegal,” said Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, press secretary for the City of Jersey City. “Zoning provides case-by-case determinations on legal curb cuts, which is the first step required for a permit to be issued by the Parking Authority.”
Still, Busby warns future homeowners to add this to their to-do list before closing on a home. The city has 7,395 legal parking spaces in the city, and they are all conveniently listed online.
A designated parking spot in urban areas can bring immense value to a home. Busby, who works in Hudson County, estimates an off-street parking option can increase a property’s value by about 10 percent to 20 percent, depending on the neighborhood.
For homeowners who don’t have a legal parking spot, but would like to apply for one, Councilwoman Ridley advised residents to reach out to the zoning department. Her office has won off-street parking spaces for at least 50 residents in Ward A.
