Drivers struggling to find overnight parking near downtown Jersey City have a new option: the Hudson County Plaza visitor lot at 257 Cornelison Ave. will now be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis overnight and on weekends, under a measure the Hudson County Board of Commissioners approved unanimously at last week's meeting.
A 9-0 Vote to Ease a Parking Squeeze
The board voted 9-0 to permit public overnight parking at the lot, according to Hudson County View. Earlier coverage from the same outlet had described the proposed schedule as weekdays from 6 p.m. until 7 a.m., plus 24-hour access on Saturdays and Sundays. The county says the move responds to a growing need for parking relief in densely populated areas, per the ordinance language reported in that earlier account.
Hudson County Administrator Abe Antun said anyone who parks in the lot will be subject to the county's towing ordinance, first adopted in 2013. Antun also said restricting the lot to residents only would require too much oversight and, in his words, “it could get out of hand.” Hudson County Counsel Alberico De Pierro added that vehicles will only be towed if they violate the ordinance.
Residents Pushed for the Change
Commissioner Bill O'Dea said the measure came at the request of residents in the neighborhood, and the move aims to accommodate them. The push follows what the earlier Hudson County View report described as an onslaught of parking-related complaints from residents, members of the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, and the Hudson County Bar Association alike — all signs of Jersey City's broader parking crunch that county officials have been trying to address.
Not every commissioner was fully at ease with the plan. Board Chair Anthony Romano and Commissioner Bob Baselice both expressed concern that residents might bring complaints back to the board if their vehicles end up towed. Commissioners also considered using a database with assigned numbers to help manage who parks where, though the ordinance as described moved forward on a first-come, first-served basis rather than a reservation system.
Towing Rules and Unresolved Gripes
O'Dea pointed to a prior towing episode at Lincoln Park, where cars were moved to another part of the park after the county needed to clear an area for an event, as the kind of outcome he wants to avoid. He said the towing ordinance should be amended if needed and called for a better solution to the rotating towing list so residents can more easily track down where their vehicles were taken.
De Pierro explained that towing companies are rotated with each tow under the county's ordinance, and that the Hudson County Sheriff's Office is required to keep a tow log recording each vehicle's license plate, tow date, tow time, and destination. The Sheriff's Office also provides drivers of illegally parked vehicles with the location where their car was towed, De Pierro said. He updated the board last month on the parking situation facing sheriff's officers specifically, and noted that officers can no longer address the board directly on the matter because a union grievance has since been filed.
A Bigger Redevelopment Question Looms
The parking fix arrives alongside a separate, larger proposal for the same county property. NJ.com reported in September that a plan floated for the site would build as many as 700 homes on county-owned land in Jersey City, including more than 200 permanently affordable units, while leaving the County Plaza office building itself in operation. County officials have said any new housing would rise on the surrounding parking lots rather than the building itself.
That redevelopment idea has already cleared one procedural hurdle: the Jersey City Planning Board voted unanimously to recommend designating the Hudson County Plaza complex on Cornelison Avenue as an area in need of redevelopment, sending the matter to the Municipal Council for a final decision, per the same NJ.com report. Whether the council has since acted on that recommendation isn't addressed in available reporting, leaving the long-term future of the surrounding lots an open question even as the overnight parking rules take effect now.
