At the last meeting of the Parking Committee, held May 30, the group discussed the Rockville Centre Police Department's September 2005 Parking Utilization Study.
According to the calculations of committee member Liz Boylan, this report says that on average 30 percent of the stalls are not being used. This means, of 3,600 existing parking spots, 1,060 are unused at any given moment.
Many of the municipal parking fields record high utilization rates, such as fields 2, 3, 5, 10 and 22, which are located centrally in the village, just north of Sunrise Highway and near the train station. They are also fields that can accommodate shoppers, residents, commuters and employees. Field 4, another field with a high rate that accommodates all three types of parkers, is located south of Sunrise, but is located close to the stores on Merrick Road.
Ed Oppenheimer, president of the committee, said that in these lots with higher utilization rates, "it's very difficult to find a spot. People are constantly circling. Everyone's trying to get in... People complain bitterly that they're not able to find parking."
All of the fields with the lower utilization rates are fields that are located very far east, or a little bit farther north or south. Field 21, the field farthest east in Rockville Centre, located off Long Beach Road, has a utilization rate of only 23.41 percent. Field 9, though it's centrally located near the train station, only has a utilization rate of 43.57 percent because it is a shopper and employee field.
Sue Oppenheimer, committee member, said, "You don't want 100 percent utilization in every lot because if you do then you really have a problem."
It's obvious, though, that the parking fields in Rockville Centre are not being properly utilized; the question is why, especially when there are so many available spots. According to Ron Wasson, village administrator, "The available parking spots are too far distanced from where people want to get to."
Mel Friedman, a committee member, believes that the people parking in the village are simply lazy. "It's a lazy attitude," he said. "For some reason there's the mentality that they've got to be near where they want to go." He said that this mentality is typical of suburban areas.
According the Boylan, and the entire committee agreed, the parking issue "is an allocation and education issue." Residents, employees and shoppers need to be made aware of what lots are available to them.
The last time the Parking Committee convened, in early 2005, the Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with the committee, printed parking maps for Rockville Centre. These maps can be found at Village Hall as well as on the web site.
Michael Shenker, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said parking for shoppers is a particularly stressful situation. "What has happened is the shoppers do come in and complain about parking tickets," he said. "They complain that they can't find parking in front of the store they want to go into."
He added that part of the problem is that owners and employees are parking in spots directly in front of their own stores. "Shame on them for taking spots that would otherwise be available to their shoppers," Shenker said. "It's hard for shop owners to complain when they are offenders of the parking situation."
According to Oppenheimer, when the Parking Committee last met in 2005, the group helped to have hours for permanent and residential parking shortened from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. "We felt many commuters traveled home by 4 p.m. and those spots were sitting empty for two to three hours," he said. The committee felt these spots were necessary for shoppers and restaurant goers, employees working at restaurants at night and residents going into Manhattan for the evening.
Shenker said that while these spots are available to anybody after 4 p.m., he believes most people are unaware of this, although it's clearly marked on the signs. "If [people] want to walk two to three blocks, there is parking available," he said.
Friedman suggested a shuttlebus or trolley to make shopping more convenient. "If people are lazy, then let them be lazy. But give them an alternate way to be lazy," he said. "There are too many empty stores and they're getting emptier. People are going to Roosevelt Field or Green Acres Mall because they don't want to get out and walk. We're interested in our downtown area thriving and not falling on its rear end."
Sue Oppenheimer said that the idea of a trolley was suggested years ago. "I worked at Grumman," she said. "I asked questions about it and the expenses were horrendous. We would want to do it at a nominal cost."
Trustee Jeanne Farnan Mulry suggested applying for grant funding so that such a project wouldn't cost the village anything.
The other idea to alleviate parking woes was to build a parking garage somewhere near the train station. Of course, with all the controversy of development in the commercial district these days, this was met with mixed opinions. Board of Trustee candidate, Suzanne Murphy Sullivan, called the potential paraking garage a "big burden on the tax payers." She also believes that such a development does not belong in Rockville Centre.
Oppenheimer suggested 130 Maple Avenue as a potential space for a garage. He said three people have already approached him saying they were interested in purchasing the old site of the Getty Station and converting it into a parking garage.
Most agreed that such a project would cost too much for the village. According to Boylan, a recent Long Beach parking garage with 160 spaces cost the city $11 million. Many feel that such a development would be too close to residential areas.
Trustee Candidate Emilio Grillo believes that a bi-level lot built on an existing parking field would be convenient and not cost as much as one on a larger scale. According to Grillo, he's read studies that say the price to build one parking spot at $10,000, nowhere near the price of the Long Beach garage, which also includes a bus depot.
While the village and the committee studies all possibilities to alleve the parking problems, educating residents and shoppers seems to be a key factor for now.
"People are not very aware of where they can or can't park," Shenker said. "Maybe the parking maps need to be more visible. Store owners need to be aware of them as well [so they can let their customers know.] Certainly, it's something that needs to be addressed. You can never stop publicizing what's available."
