Greenport delays resident parking passes as paid parking enforcement moves ahead

Greenport pumped the brakes on resident parking passes despite outcry over the village’s expanded paid parking program, even as the village moves ahead with enforcement this summer.

Officials said during a special meeting at the Little Red Schoolhouse on Wednesday that implementing resident passes this season isn’t feasible due to the time it takes to evaluate different vendor options and deploy software.

“For the sake of transparency to the public, I think people should know that any kind of permits that are going to be issued are probably going to be next year,” Trustee Julia Robins said. 

Village Administrator Jenna Butler-Esposito said it could take eight to 10 weeks after a vendor is selected for implementation, and that Greenport hasn’t selected one yet.

She said the village is currently looking into two potential vendors to manage a resident parking permit program — Passport, which integrates with the village’s current system, ParkMobile. It’s a full-service program, meaning it uses license plate recognition to identify registered residents.

The other option is Rydin, which instead would release unique identifier codes, which Greenport would send out to village tax lot owners. Residents would also get a physical sticker for their vehicle. She said the additional software would cost the village about $8,000 per year.

“Passport works in conjunction with ParkMobile,” Ms. Butler-Esposito said. With “Rydin…this would be a lot of paper, letters, stickers. Passport is designed to work with ParkMobile and does in a number of municipalities.”

Treasurer Adam Brautigam said that if the village issued 1,430 resident parking passes, each at $40, it would generate roughly $57,200 in 2027. He said the numbers are based on his assumption that there are 1,100 parcels of land in the village, and that potentially 65% of residents would apply for a pass.

He also said the village is assuming that a quarter of the people currently parking in paid parking areas are residents.

“We’re doing our best,” Mayor Kevin Stuessi said. “Whether it’s the right decision or not, we probably won’t know for five years or so.”

The village approved hiring Gregory Mucaria as a part-time, seasonal parking meter officer at its June 29 meeting. The village allotted for two positions in the current budget. Southold Town police have been enforcing parking within the village.

This season brought along two newly metered parking lots — off Main Street and Adams Street — costing $3.50 an hour, with the village collecting 85% of that money. Front Street from Third to Main Street was already paid spots, as was Main Street from Center Street to the Claudio’s parking lot.

Front Street Station recently began offering to pay for customers’ first hour of parking to persuade diners to come through the door.

The village launched a pilot program in the fall of 2024 on Front Street and Main Street. While creating the 2025-26 budget, Greenport officials advanced planning for the full program, with revenue projections, mapping and public outreach components.

Metered parking is in effect daily from Memorial Day through Columbus Day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The village had budgeted that it would receive $165,000 in paid parking revenue this year.

“The metering on Front and Main has been going on for two years, on the basis of trying to keep Main and Front parking for people who want to shop at the businesses,” Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said. “The question is, do we keep rising taxes or do we kind of try to find some other mechanism to soften the blow?”

Mr. Stuessi said the village recently had to spend $100,000 on downtown sidewalk repairs, which officials have argued is the purpose of the expanded program.

Officials said they are debating whether to open up passes to residents of greater Greenport, outside the village. Ms. Phillips said she doesn’t want people living outside the village to pay the same amount.

Resident feedback was mixed at the meeting, with arguments for and against resident passes and suggested modifications.

John Saladino said the added revenue from the paid parking is very important to him as a taxpayer. He noted that village taxes rose by 17% two years ago.

“I’m a blue-collar, low-dollar guy,” he said. “A 17% tax increase is a big deal to me.”

Katherine Perry, who has lived above a Main Street store for the last decade, said she has a three-and-a-half-year-old son with special needs. Her husband, Josh, was one of the first residents to speak up against paid parking at the village’s May 28 meeting.

“Is there any way for a 30-minute window?” she asked. “If I have to unload groceries, I don’t want to have to pay $4 to drop off my groceries while my son sits in a warm car, and then go park four blocks away.”

She said she understands the need for paid parking, but that “residents who commit their time to living here year-round should have been taken into consideration” and that communication has been “crummy.”

Bridget Elkin said she’s in favor of paid parking, and that it is helping to increase turnover by downtown businesses. She said she likes the idea of the first 30 minutes being free.

“I really am totally against the resident parking thing. Residents do not need to park for more than 30 minutes to an hour without paying on Front and Main,” Ms. Elkin said. “There’s plenty of other places to park and, in my opinion, that’s the most valuable real estate you have in this town.”

Ms. Elkin said that if the village issues resident passes, Ms. Perry would have an even harder time finding a spot to park with her son because people would leave their cars for long periods of time. 

“This feeling that people should be able to park 10 feet from where they’re going, needs to be sucked out of it,” she said. “We need to reframe the conversation.”

Phyllis Montgomery said she is “a fan of what you’ve come to do with the parking,” but “a resident clerking sticker of some sort would be very helpful.”

Mr. Stuessi also said the Business Improvement District and the village had discussed the possibility two years ago of using Greenport School’s parking lot for downtown workers and providing a free shuttle to work. He said that could open up more parking for visitors.

“It’s something I would hope the village is able to talk further with the new business improvement district board,” he said.