The West Windsor Township Council ended 2008 by adopting three new ordinances at the December 29 meeting.
The first ordinance requires all retail food establishments and multi-use property owners, like office parks and shopping centers, to establish a grease control plan.
The ordinance would require all existing establishments to create grease control plans within 180 days of the ordinance’s adoption, while new establishments constructed after the ordinance is adopted will be required to have the plan and install external grease interceptors. The goal is to prevent grease from food from getting into drains and sanitary sewers and to prevent blockages in the lines, which creates headaches for township and Stonybrook Regional Sewage Authority employees.
The ordinance creates a discharge limitation of 100 parts per million for fats, oils, and greases. In order for existing establishments to do that, monitoring devices need to be installed.
Under the ordinance, the penalties for the first offense include monetary fines of up to $1,000, or design changes.
The second ordinance requires landscaping and lawn contractors who perform work within the township to register with the township. The ordinance prohibits any landscaping for hire on any public or private property within the township unless that person has first registered with the township. At the time of registration, the applicant will have to certify that he or she has received a copy of the provisions of the township’s leaf and brush ordinances and state that he or she will comply with them.
The registration will be subject to renewal on an annual basis. The cost of the registration will be $10 a year.
Before its passage, Councilman Will Anklowitz confirmed with Business Administrator Chris Marion that township officials would be working with the police department to come up with decals to be placed on trucks and vehicles associated with landscaping companies that have registered with the township. He also confirmed that the ordinance regulations will be printed in both English and Spanish.
The third ordinance ensures brush and trees are not placed in bicycle lanes on local roads.
The ordinance prohibits sweeping, raking, blowing, or otherwise placing yard waste that is not in a container at the curb or along the street — unless it is done during the seven days prior to a scheduled and announced collection. Even then, residents will not be able to place the yard waste closer than 10 feet from any storm drain inlet, nor in such a manner that it blocks a bicycle lane or other depressed curb crosswalk. Placing yard waste in the public ways adjacent to private property at any other time or in any other manner will be a violation of the ordinance.
Ken Carlson, president of the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance, told the council that one of the alliance’s goals has been to expand the bike lane program, and that more bike lanes will be added in 2009, including on Washington Road, as the county has been receptive to the idea of placing bicycle lanes on the entire length of the road.
“Bicycle lanes are great, but when you have things in the way, it becomes a problem,” he said. When residents place their leaves in the lanes, it creates a “real crash hazard” for cyclists. “It also presents a conflict when bicyclists have to unpredictably weave” to avoid piles of leaves that they may not be able to see until coming upon them, Carlson said.
Carlson also said that the problem mostly occurs in the fall and spring and that there was no current ordinance preventing the placement of yard waste in the bicycle lanes. “Vehicular lanes should be treated the same as vehicular travel lanes,” he said. “This ordinance would provide greater safety to adults and children who use bicycle lanes.”
While Marion said that information would be posted on the township website, on the cable channel, and that officials would take WWBPA up on its offer to help spread the word, he said that “the phone will ring off the hook the minute this is passed.” The council voted unanimously to adopt all three ordinances.
Walkability Maps. In related WWBPA news, following an inventory taken by 30 volunteers who spent one day last May visiting each intersection around town, answering walkability questions and taking note of missing elements, West Windsor now has an online Walkability map produced by the West Windsor Bicycle and Pedestrian Alliance (WWBPA).
The WWBPA released the map, which can be viewed at https://maps.gismap.us/wwbpa, last month. The map includes information for 660 crossings of 193 intersections in the township. Following the McGraw-Hill Companies 5th Annual Global Volunteer Day, WWBPA Ken Carlson and First Vice President Chris Scherer evaluated the results, along with a team of volunteers, who helped plot the latitude and longitude of the crossings and intersections to update the existing Walkability map. Wansoo Im, a West Windsor resident, and his geospatial information services company, VERTICES, helped the WWBPA.
The alliance also has released a list of the Top 20 Recommended Intersection Improvements. According to a press release from the alliance, the list represents the top 20 intersections out of 199 reviewed that need the most focus.
Included in the list are the intersections of Princeton-Hightstown/Cranbury roads; North Post/Clarksville roads; Princeton-Hightstown/Clarksville roads; Scott Avenue/Alexander Road; Penn Lyle, Harris, and Clarksville roads; Village/New Edinburg roads; Arnold Drive/Penn Lyle Road; Sherbrooke Drive/Princeton-Hightstown Road; Princeton-Hightstown/Alexander roads; Carillon/Carnegie Boulevard and Canal Pointe Boulevard; Village and South Mill roads; South Mill/Princeton-Hightstown roads; Akron Lane/New Village Road; Princeton-Hightstown Road/Lanwin Boulevard; Greenfield Drive/New Village Road; Stockton Lane/New Village Road; Wallace Road/Scott Avenue; Village/Old Trenton roads; Village/Southfield roads; and the crosswalk near Mayfair Drive and Canal Pointe Boulevard.
