Another resident described periodic horn-honking in the middle of the night that just wouldn\u2019t stop. He finally went outside to see what was going on, and he saw a man intermittently \u201cnodding off\u201d from consuming drugs. His head would slope down, hitting the horn, which would then wake him up. The police and EMS were called to the scene.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/toms_river_bay_shore_parking_1021-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>A parking area is causing concern among residents on Bay Shore Drive in Toms River, March 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>A parking area is causing concern among residents on Bay Shore Drive in Toms River, March 2023. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n
The residents are asking for the spaces to be removed and simple \u2018no parking\u2019 signs placed along the bay. Police officers are aware of the situation, but resources don\u2019t always allow constant patrols of a few parking spaces in a single neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve responded there over 30 times in the last two months,\u201d said Little, after looking up the statistics on his laptop during the council meeting. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s the first time a person has been there and we ask them to leave. Sometimes we have written summonses.\u201d<\/p>\n
So if the spaces are causing so much trouble, why can\u2019t they simply be removed, resident asked? As with many issues in Toms River and beyond, removing a parking space is more complicated than it sounds. Several years ago, Toms River decided to replace the bulkhead along the street as part of a regular maintenance project. That entails state permitting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe [Department of Environmental Protection], as you know, has a public access management plan, and one of the conditions of the permit that we got to replace the bulkhead was to include those spaces,\u201d Township Engineer Robert Chankalian said.<\/p>\n
After two rounds of pleas at council meetings, residents were assured that officials were seeking a resolution. Councilman Justin Lamb, who represents the neighborhood\u2019s ward, said he would speak with residents and brainstorm with officials and the chief about how to best handle an unusual problem. Several council members suggested creating a physical barrier that is locked after the 10 p.m. time limit on the spaces were to end. It would crate more work for security staff, but would ultimately be one more stop among several gates that are locked around town at nighttime.<\/p>\n