Borough Council Almost Creates Illegal Parking Lot

At Monday’s Borough Council meeting, council members unanimously rejected a motion that would advertise an ordinance establishing two parking lots, one of which would have been illegal.

The lots in question are on Sixth Street and Bell Avenue and in the 600 block of Lawrence Avenue, west of Burger King. The borough had previously demolished the buildings on the property and now own the lots.

The motion, as it appeared in the agenda, was the following:“A motion would be in order to advertise an ordinance establishing an umetered parking lot at the corner of Sixth Street and Bell Avenue for municipal purposes only and in the 600 block of Lawrence Avenue (west of Burger King) for permit parking only.”

However, council member Connie McDonald pointed out that the Sixth and Bell lot isn’t paved. Borough zoning regulations prohibit creating an unpaved parking lot in a commercial area.

“Borough should abide by the zoning regulations just like we require others to do,” McDonald said.

Council member Marilyn Mancini stated that the borough didn’t spend money tearing down the properties to create parking lots. Instead, the borough should advertise to sell the properties.

After discussion, the council agreed. However, the Sixth and Bell lot has not yet been assessed. The motion, as passed, advertised 600 Lawrence Ave. for sale and Sixth Street and Bell Avenue for sale pending assessment.