Lenape High School students parking at the Medford Youth Athletic Association’s girls softball field on Hartford Road was a topic for concern at the Medford Town Council’s last meeting.
Seniors have the opportunity to purchase a parking pass to park in the lot on Lenape grounds, but this only leaves about 25 spots for those who are not seniors.
For years now, juniors who have their license have been parking across the street from Lenape in the MYAA lot.
The Lenape students who park there are not required to have a permit so it is wide open parking on township property on which Medford is liable.
Cherokee, Shawnee and Seneca high schools do not allow students to park outside of their property; Lenape is the only school in the district that does this.
“We received some complaints from some neighbors about the dust, kids speeding out of there and just the way they drive around in the parking lot,” Medford Township Clerk Kathy Berger said.
This is not the first time the topic has been brought before the Medford Town Council. In 2012, a resolution added crossing guards there.
It was suggested by Mayor Charles Watson to handle the scenario like they handle roadwork or a parade.
“There needs to be a police officer there for certain hours, and the school would be responsible for paying for that,” Watson said.
He also suggested the idea of charging kids for a parking permit in the MYAA lot similarly to how the school charges them to park in its lot on campus.
The township has had discussions with the schools about taking the parking away all together, but Lenape argues it does not have the capacity at the school.
Also the council showed concern that if it does not allow the students to park there, they will have problems in other areas or neighborhoods that are still in the township.
“If we close down MYAA for Lenape students, we will just be displacing this problem,” Police Chief Richard Meder said. “You’re going to have problems at Johnson’s or Hartford Road or Church Road.”
At that point, a safety problem could arise as kids cross these streets haphazardly with no traffic regulators as opposed to being contained as they are now with sidewalks and traffic guards.
As far as the dust problem, it is not a paved field, and Councilman Chris Buoni suggested talking to the school about having the lot paved to negate the erosion problem.
“If their use of the lot is creating that kind of wear and tear on it, than maybe the school can pay to correct the problem,” Buoni said.
However, the idea of paving the lot could lead to strengthening the core of this problem in the end.
“The only problem I have with paving is that it would enable them to go even faster. Right now they have to go over little bumps,” Berger said. “When we paved Hartford Crossing, we made it a speedway.”
It was suggested by the public to have a staff member from Lenape who doesn’t have a homeroom check the students into the lot and once more during the day check the cars in the lot for anything suspicious.
This was suggested because though all of the kids involved are from Mount Laurel, any incidents would cost the township of Medford.
“These aren’t Medford residents, so why should Medford taxpayers pay for any alterations?” Buoni asked.
As the school year is now officially over, this will be a problem that will be temporarily fixed while the students are home for the summer.
The council will now be looking to work on regulating this problem for the years to come.
“We are just looking to open up the dialogue with the school at this point,” Berger said. “I will report back.”
