The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, tabled action on the first reading of an amended Ordinance affecting the speed limit on a section of Sunnyside Lane. There is a 25-mile per hour speed limit currently posted from 10^th Street to 2,000-feet south of 10^th. The remaining 1,700-foot stretch of road is unregulated, which was an oversight in planning, or was left as is for reasons unknown, according to City Administrator John Lund. If someone was speeding along that part of Sunnyside, a ticket would be essentially unenforceable because there is no posted speed limit.

The amendment would change the entire length of Sunnyside from 10^th to 22^nd Street to 25-miles per hour, which Councilman Gerald Brink said is not necessary. Brink was adamant that the unregulated section should be 35-mph instead of 25 because there are very few houses in that area and even less pedestrian traffic. Brink said the traffic on that section of Sunnyside is averaging about 40-miles per hour. Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson said the regulated section is 25-mph because it runs by the pool and there are hidden driveways along that stretch of road. Snyder and Associates Engineer Dave Sturm explained how speed limits are set. He said speeds are generally set by an 85^th-percentile speed study. Whatever 85-percent of the vehicles travel at or below is where the limits are set. He said from what he knows about that road, the terrain is not likely to dictate what the limit should be. He said a study could be conducted, but that it really isn’t warranted, considering the length of the road in question.

Councilperson Ashley Hayes was in favor of the 25-mph for the entire road to 22^nd Street. She said coming from the south to the north, there’s not enough time to drop from 35-to 25 without it being considered a speed-trap. Hayes said she’s seen countless drivers slam on their brakes when they hit the 25-mph zone, because there is no speed limit coming from 22^nd Street. She said she doesn’t like the idea of having a partial speed-limit on the section of same street in question. A motion to approve the Amended Ordinance on the first reading failed by a vote of 5-to-2, with only Councilpersons Hayes and Jimerson voting in favor. The matter now “goes back to the drawing board,” according to Mayor Jones.

In other business, Mayor Dave Jone said the Council would set the date for Halloween as October 31^st during their next meeting. And, he wanted the public to know the Council will be discussing a raising of the sewer rates. He said people keep mowing their grass clippings into the streets which clogs up the sewers. “They don’t want to listen to us we might have to look at [stricter enforcement] or rate increases.” Councilman Chris Jimerson added, that grass clippings blown out into the street, make it very dangerous for motorcycles, especially when the grass is wet.