Greenport may ramp up parking requirements

Greenport is taking steps to update its parking code. 

Village Attorney Joseph Prokop presented a draft of legislation at a work session last Thursday that would eliminate a grandfathering clause that exempts buildings in commercial districts built before 1991 from off-street parking requirements. The proposed legislation would also increase the fee some business owners can pay in lieu of parking requirements. 

“Basically, everybody would be responsible for parking moving forward,” he said. 

Trustees expressed confusion about some of the provisions in the legislation and asked Mr. Prokop to clarify the language before it’s put up for a public hearing. 

“Let’s clarify it, make it easier for everyone to read and understand before we schedule a public hearing on it. You’re getting there but we’re not quite there yet,” Mayor George Hubbard said at the meeting. 

Mr. Prokop said he would “definitely simplify” the legislation and bring it back to the trustees. 

“Conceptually, we’ve taken out the grandfathering; we’re going to raise the price for parking waiver, we’re adjusting the waiver amount that you can get. So I’ll take care of that. I’ll make it much simpler,” he said. 

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips emphasized that the language needs to be clear.

“Sometimes our code has very vague wording and I think … we need to be very clear as to what we’re doing,” she said.