Dear Neighbors,

As many of you are aware, the Township recently ticketed parked cars on our streets for parking overnight, something that had not occurred in many years.  Please join us in signing this petition to let the local government know that we need a practical approach to parking that reflects the interests and well-being of our neighborhood.

Residents of our neighborhood have expressed their concerns about a parking restriction on Revere Drive and Sgt David Stoddard Court between the hours of 2AM and 5AM daily. Many of us learned about this restriction after cars parked on the street were ticketed in the early morning hours of Sunday, December 21, 2025.  The sign that states this regulation is hidden by a tree. 

This regulation negatively impacts our neighborhood, as the garages in our residences are very small and cannot accommodate large vehicles at all and most driveways are short and offer only two spaces.  This makes our homes undesirable to those with larger families, adult children, or those who need to use their garages for storage rather than for their vehicles.  The police department stated that residents could call the department if there are overnight guests for a few nights and they would not ticket at that time.  While this is helpful for guest parking, this does not address the needs of the taxpayers who are forced to utilize street parking on a regular basis.

One of our neighbors spoke to the township administrative clerk to see if this code could be eliminated or amended to allow for resident permits or parking on one side of the street only, etc.  The township administrative clerk cited the following reasons to deny this request:

• The township cannot issue or manage resident permits due to a heavy administrative burden

• Limiting parking to only on one side of the street would still not allow fire engines to get by between 2AM and 5AM

• Neighbors had complained that there were cars parked illegally for months

Although it is difficult for a layperson to understand what is involved with the administration of resident permits, with only 25 houses on these two streets, it does not seem like it would be an undue burden.  In addition, it is unclear how parking on these two streets would only be a problem for the fire department between 2AM and 5AM.  If this statement were indeed true, the same challenges would exist for fire department operations at midnight, 6AM or 2PM, for example.  Finally, if cars were parked "illegally" for an unusually long period of time, the township should consider revising this code to account for that, rather than eliminating overnight parking altogether for all residents.  This could be addressed by ticketing those vehicles only, but not the vehicles that clearly are being used regularly due to the aforementioned issues with the garage/driveway parking situations.

Furthermore, this regulation has not been enforced in many years, and residents had no knowledge that it would now be strictly enforced. Past practices would support the argument that the sudden change in enforcement is unreasonable and not based in need considering that some of the reasons cited by the Township clerk described above are not new circumstances that have suddenly occurred (fire department access).

We urge the Bedminster Township Committee to reconsider this parking restriction and work closely with residents to develop alternative solutions that accommodate the community's needs. Options such as designated parking permits for residents, timed parking for guest vehicles, or reevaluating the necessity and positioning of current restrictions may be viable solutions.

Please join us in signing this petition to let the local government know that we need a practical approach to parking that reflects the interests and well-being of our neighborhood.