Government

Village Hall Notes: Parking fines brought in $52K

Greenport Village parking

Greenport Village’s decision to hire a new parking and traffic code enforcement officer last summer is paying off, according to officials.

The village has issued 583 parking violations since June 17, which brought in $52,165 in fines through November. Figures for December are not yet available.

The violations that drew the most fines were parking outside of markings, with 17 incidents, and vehicles parked outside of lines, with 15. (The difference between these infractions is unclear.) Parking where prohibited was next, with 11.

Trustee Doug Roberts said he was happy to see a “diversity” in the types of tickets that were issued.

He also had some ideas for how to spend that money.

“If we’re going to average $8,000 per month, that’s $100,000 in revenue that we should think about,” said Mr. Roberts, who suggested some of it be used to hire a grant writer for the downtown area to look at getting help with issues like waste management and sidewalks.

Planning for Third Street

With two large projects proposed for Third Street and an ongoing problem with ferry traffic, Mr. Roberts also thinks the village will need some planning help.

The three-story former Meson Ole building on the west side of Third Street is being renovated with two restaurants and six apartments. That project was approved in August.

A three-story hotel with 16 rooms and a restaurant has been proposed for the east side of the street. That project still needs approval from the village.

The village also has been dealing with ferry traffic problems on Wiggins and Third streets, and the MTA parking lot adjacent to the ferry is underutilized and unpaved, Mr. Roberts said. In addition, the future of the former Chowder Pot Pub/Blue Canoe site is unclear.

The county Industrial Development Agency has awarded grants to transit-oriented projects in other Long Island municipalities and given them funding to hire the Regional Plan Association, which works on planning issues in the tri-state area.

Mayor George Hubbard agreed that the village should write to the IDA. He also said the village has $324,000 in federal grant money that can be put toward solving the ferry traffic issue. That money was originally earmarked for Mitchell Park but was never used.

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips suggested that the village be careful not to undertake two studies on the same issue.

“We don’t want to be doing double work,” she said.

Parking fee at Jitney lot?

Ms. Phillips also asked if the village could put time limits on parking in the MTA lot used by Hampton Jitney and whether the village could charge a fee for using the lot.

Currently, she said, there are cars and even a food truck that have been parked there for a long time.

“It looks like they are using the parking lot for winter parking,” she said.

The village leases the lot from the MTA at no charge, and is responsible for maintaning it.

Mr. Hubbard says he was told that if the village charged a fee, it would have to split the proceeds with the MTA.

Village attorney Joe Prokop said he would look into whether the village’s lease with the MTA would allow it to impose a fee or time limit on the lot.

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File photo: Front Street in Greenport Village.