Westfield in Violation of Own Town Ordinance?

     Anyone that has ever parked in a parking space in one of the various Westfield municipal parking lots knows the routine.  Park your car, identify the space number, head to a pay station to pay for parking, then continue on you merry way.  After 7 pm, park your car free, and be on your merry way.

A recent email received at TheFactofTheMatter@live.com asked us to look into a problem.  The problem began when a person parked in the northside train station parking lot.  They identified the parking space as space #254.  They went on to say that when they returned to their car, they saw a dent in the driver-side of the car.  They summized that the car that had been parked next to them had caused the dent when a passenger had opened their door and struck the car parked in space #254.  The culprit was gone, the car that was parked adjacent to space #254 was gone.  They did recall having a dificult time opening their car door without hitting the car parked in the adjacent space. All that was left was an unhappy person with a dent in their car door that will cost $150-$200 to remove.  May we suggest "Dent-Wizard"

     Today, TFoTM located spot #254 in the north-side train lot and found out the following:  The width of the parking space is 7 feet 4 inches wide.  The measurement was taken from the middle of the painted white line on one side of the parking space to the middle of the white line on the other side of the parking space.  TFoTM challenges anyone to park in this spot (#254) and exit their automobile without having to squeeze through the opening in their car door without striking the adjacent parked vehicle. 

     TFoTM then obtained the following Westfield Town Code Ordinance 17.04 titled "REQUIRED DIMENSIONS FOR PARKING SPACES AND LOADING SPACES.  Subsection A. states:  Minimum parking space dimensions.  Parking spaces shall be designed to provide a rectangular area with the following minimum dimensions, which shall exclude any roadway, driveway or access aisle adjacent to the space.  Parking spaces for persons with disabilities shall be in accordance with the New Jersey Uniform Construction Code or American with Disabilities Act, as aplicable. (RSIS)  

Type of Space                Space Width                     Space Depth
no curb overhang                 9'                                         20'

with 2' curb overhang           9'                                         18'
(90 degree angle only)

parallel to aisle                     9'                                         23'

*Space #254 = 7' 4" in width appears to be in violation of Westfield's own town ordinance.

To see if this was an issue throughout other municipal lots, TFoTM also checked the Municipal lot located off of Prospect St. behind the old Leader store and randomly found space # 837 to measure 8 feet 6 inches wide as did many other parking spaces in this lot..  These parking spaces were also in violation of Westfield's own town ordinance.

Perhaps the Town, in an attempt to maximize parking revenue, "shoe-horned" parking spaces into these municipal lots without ever recognizing the Town Ordinance it's own governing body passed.

The Fact of The Matter is, the Town probably never expected anyone to check. 

Is this another case of Mismanagement or Oversight?

So Westfielders, visitors, downtown employees, deal with the dents, and thank Town Hall.