For $250 a year a commuter can get a parking spot next to the Lyndhurst Train Station. That’s if you’re a lucky batch of 93 commuters that have the liberty of holding a township-issued permit for the lot just off the corner of Second and Stuyvesant avenues. The lot nearly abuts Lyndhurst Station.

For a short walk, however, 479 commuters can catch a free spot at the massive parking lot in the ShopRite plaza just up the road. Some think it would be better for those users to pay a little into the township coffers.

A watchdog group said the township is missing out on some much-needed revenue from the commuters who choose to walk a little further, but park for free. Many, the group contends, are commuters that are not even Lyndhurst residents, but get to park for free all day long within the town’s borders. The Lyndhurst Taxpayers Association (LTA) thinks it’s about time the township starts looking at the sea of cars that use the lot and in turn, begin hitting each one with a fee similar to the ones imposed directly next to Lyndhurst Station.

"The point is other towns are charging, the amount could be up to the local officials, but towns everywhere are doing it," said LTA member Nick Uliano. "I say $100 a car, but that’s low-balling it and it’s not a heck of a lot of money, but it’s something."

Uliano said on a random day last week, he inspected the lot and admittedly said it was not being used to its capacity, but did count approximately 250 cars. If the township charged even a nominal fee, $100 is his proposal, it could bring an extra $25,000 into the township’s coffers. If the $250 charge at the Second and Stuyvesant Avenue lot was applied to the NJ Transit lot at ShopRite and it was filled to capacity, the township could receive nearly $120,000 per year in revenue.

"The transit lot at the ShopRite is owned by NJ Transit, not the township so we have no way to charge for the parking," said Mayor Richard DiLascio.

Another motive

Uliano and several parents at past board of commissioner and board of education meetings have questioned the station-side lot altogether because by fall, the nearby Knights of Columbus building will opens its doors as a new annex to Jefferson School. The protest at times has called for a move of the parking lot by the annex and diverting all parking to ShopRite.

"They [commuters] come the same time the kids go to school and then some come home the same time the kids are leaving," said Uliano. "It’s [the annex] near heavy traffic and the kids and cars are going to clash."

DiLascio said, however, as the building is revamped, so will the route to safe entry to the school. He said the town will not only eliminate track-side spots that abut the train station across from the annex, but also New York Avenue from Livingston Avenue to the parking area will become a one-way. Currently, the commuters have opted for the permits as all spaces in the trackside lot are taken.

"The street will be reconfigured to extend the curb line into the road area and we will create a protected drop off zone in front of the building," said DiLascio. "The parking spaces directly across from the building will be eliminated. There will be a police officer stationed at the building during all pick and drop off times."

To charge or not to charge?

In bordering towns, NJ Transit does not own any parking lots for commuter rail service. In Rutherford, where the only other train station exists in the South Bergenite coverage area, two commuter parking lots exist in proximity to the station at the base of Park Avenue. The Kip Avenue garage and street parking along Erie Avenue collaboratively provide commuters availability to 136 spots at $50 a month or $600 per year, an imposed fee by the borough.

"We are looking at making the spots and permit parking lots more affordable for our residents, but when it becomes free, there’s really no way of controlling that," said Rutherford Mayor John Hipp. "You’ll get a lot of out-of-towners taking up spots while there will be no way to regulate the use."

Making a NJ Transit lot a pay-as-you-use lot would have to be the decision of NJ Transit and the commuter service has begun to implement fees at other park and ride locations. The charges, however, have come under some heavy protest in some areas because as charges are implemented, more riders are opting to dodge the lot and look to the streets where residents park. Just recently, four Passaic County transit lots went from free to permit only. Police in Clifton have been fielding numerous complaints from residents that say out-of-town commuters who formerly used the Allwood Road lot are now taking up valuable street parking desperately needed by residents.

DiLascio fears the same could occur in Lyndhurst if the ShopRite lot ever transitioned to paid. He said a good mixture of having the option to pay and having the availability of a further free lot is a good combination of revenue for the township and street parking control as well. "I am not in favor of paid transit parking at the ShopRite," he said.

In Lyndhurst’s case, NJ Transit said the ShopRite parking lot doesn’t necessarily warrant a fee because although it is utilized by hundreds of commuters, its use is underutilized in terms of their assessment.

"The long and short of it is several locations along that rail line are free lots," said Courtney Carroll, a spokesperson for NJ Transit. "In Lyndhurst’s situation, the proximity to the station is further than many of our other lots and the usage, only about 30-percent capacity on average, helps determine why we do not charge there, but charge at other lots."

Sammy Tedesco, a Kearny resident who uses the free lot in Lyndhurst for frequent trips to the city, said a fee at the transit lot, if it was pay-as-you-use, would not deter him from using it, but if year-round permits were required, he would opt out.

"I use the train two, three times a week and if I had to pay $250 or whatever in the hundreds for that, I would probably just drive around and find a free spot...no biggie," he said. "I just park here because I can find a spot right away, walk two minutes and hop on the train."