Parking concerns were front and center among Guernsey Avenue residents present at a neighborhood meeting held on October 11 in the Township building. The meeting was called by Ward 11 commissioner John Spiegelman to address the forthcoming Nifty Fifty’s retro chain restaurant, which is expected to open at 1140 Old York Road by April or May 2023.

The meeting included discussion of a multi-component strategy to address longstanding problems with traffic, cut-through volume and speed, and available parking spaces in the area.

“Things have been getting more difficult on the block. You don’t need me to tell you that. We have six months to put in a plan and get it working,” Spiegelman said. “The time of greatest chaos is those first few weeks after opening. We want everything in place well before the restaurant opens so that everyone can get used to it.”

Permit parking discussions in the Township began over two months ago, and have been revamped by the forthcoming franchise. Permit parking, if passed, would apply across the Township.

A Township resident noted that permit parking was tried in the Township years ago and “failed miserably.”

“We’re looking at revamping our entire permit process. We will do whatever we can legally do to address your concerns and issues,” Deputy Chief of Police Christopher Porter said. “When a business comes in, we want to make sure that you’re taken care of. We won’t have our new policy until sometime next year. If permit parking is something you’re interested in, we’ll devote ourselves to it. There has to be consensus. Everyone has to be on board.”

Concerns about permit parking ranged from enforcement to cost.

“I’ve not seen a ticket on this street in 11 years,” a resident said. “We can put up signs, but if there’s no enforcement, nothing’s going to change. It’s not that we don’t want permit parking, it’s that we don’t know how or if it’s going to be enforced.”

“We will have an officer during peak dinner hours assigned to the block and watch people park. And if someone parks where they shouldn’t, that officer will be there to address it,” Spiegelman said. “You would not have to pay for your permits, and if you’re having a special event, all you have to do is call the police department and extra permits could be arranged for your special permit guests.”

A resident of Guernsey Avenue suggested changing a portion of the road to a one-way.

“If it’s a one-way street, it would make everyone safer. We have football games in the middle of the street,” the resident said. “We’ve been staring at a dead open space for two years now. It’s better for the community when there are businesses. All I want to say is that there are 14 children living on this block.”

“I like the idea of the one-way but for me, that’s not going to work,” a Township crossing guard said.

A stop sign on Guernsey was additionally suggested as a way to slow traffic down. Officials noted the possibility of utilizing Abington Hospital’s adjacent lot as a means to lessen parking overflow.

“I’ve begged the hospital to consider whether one car per household could park in the Dixon lot. It could take a little pressure off, but I don’t know if it’s going to happen,” Spiegelman said. “It’s something I’m working on as I try to think of things that will give your cars more places to park to ease things up a little bit.”

Parking regulations per the Township’s zoning code have left some area residents unclear as to whether a provision in the ordinance allows for a restaurant’s overflow parking, and what will be done to accommodate the restaurant employees’ parking needs.

“Every single southbound traveler on York Road is affected. And all the nearby streets. If Guernsey succeeds in preventing ‘over-flow’ parking there, another street will be the recipient,” a resident said.

Other resident concerns included Leo McGlynn, Nifty Fifty’s co-owner, and his involvement in a tax evasion scheme back in 2012.