By ARIELLA MONTI
While details are being ironed out, the tentative plan calls for short-term curbside parking with a 30-minute minimum time and a maximum of two hours. Long-term parking, as well as designated spots for business employees, are planned for the mall areas in the middle of Park Avenue. The city is considering the use of multi-space, centrally located meters like those in Rockville Centre and parts of New York City, in which drivers insert money and are issued printed tickets for their dashboard.
“Merchants are losing business by virtue of people not being able to find spots,” explained City Manger Charles Theofan. “Everyone knows the feeling when there’s something in particular in the middle of town and you can’t find a space, and therefore you drive away.”
City officials will hold two public forums, in addition to regularly scheduled City Council meetings, at which residents and business owners can obtain more information and voice their opinions or suggestions about the parking plan, which is expected to be finalized after the meetings.
Luke Hamlet, owner of Long Beach Surf on West Park Avenue, said he favors parking restrictions, since they would keep cars in front of his shop moving. “If it facilitates the traffic flowing, then I’m for it,” said Hamlet, who added that the city should also consider adding more bicycle racks.
Hamlet said he is skeptical about whether store employees would use the designated parking areas in the center of Park Avenue if they can find metered spots closer to where they work, to avoid even a short walk. Even in these difficult economic times, he speculated, some people would just carry around extra change to feed the meters.
Parking rates have yet to be determined, but Theofan said the city is considering a more reasonable rate than the 25 cents per 10 minutes charged in Manhattan. He added that since the city has not decided on a contractor, the anticipated cost and revenue also have yet to be determined.
Susan Gelfand, owner of Josef Rose Originals, an East Park Avenue boutique that sells handbags, pointed out that there is 30-minute parking at a bank next door and two-hour parking farther down the street, and she said that metered parking isn’t a bad idea for businesses where customers don’t shop for long. But Gelfand said that because customers sometimes browse at her store for up to three hours, meters would force them out the door without making a purchase.
“It’s OK for certain areas, but in front of my store I don’t need it,” she said.
Asked if metered parking would rush diners out the door, Allan Adams, owner of Sugo restaurant on West Park, said, “I don’t think it’s going to deter people from lingering in the restaurant.”
While Adams acknowledged that he hasn’t thought much about metered parking, he noted that Long Beach is one of the towns in the area that offers free parking. “I don’t think it would make a difference,” he said of the potential impact meters would have on business.
Theofan said that the city would like to have the meters in place by the end of the year. The proposal is part of a broader $25,000 plan to examine parking in the city, including in the West End and along Broadway.
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