Politics & Government

December Parking Limits Could Be Lifted as Soon as Thursday

Public hearing for code amendment, which would lift the two-hour parking ban on certain municipal lots, scheduled for Thursday morning.

Vendors in the village may see more shoppers moseying around on the street this holiday season - at least that's the hope of the East Hampton Village Board, as they are expected to loosen parking regulations within the village.

A public hearing will be held at the Emergency Services Building on Cedar Street on Thursday morning at 11 a.m., in regards to a code amendment that would exclude the months of April and December from the two-hour parking limit in Robert G. Reutershan and Barnes Schenck Municipal Parking Lots. The current regulations last from April through the end of December in an effort to promote turnover and exclude shop employees from taking up potential customers' parking spots.

By eliminating December from the mix, the idea is to promote people to come to the village and stay as long as they want - especially since the village has noticed a drop-off in visitors in recent years.

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According to Village Administrator Larry Cantwell, just over 40,000 parking passes were issued from the Reutershan and Schenck lots in December of 2010 (compared with 142,000 in August, the village's busiest month). This compared to 67,000 in 2007.

"If the village could accomodate all the parking demanded, we wouldn't have any regulations," Cantwell said. "But the demand is not that great."

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The village board can pass the legislation loosening the restrictions immediately following the public hearing. One-hour restrictions will still remain in effect on Main Street and Newtown Lane.


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