As Parking Meter Debate Continues, 'Port-Quester' Looms

After members of the restaurant and bar industry loudly protested an extension of paid parking in the the village – from 10 p.m. until midnight in the coming season – business owners continued this week to seek a compromise, though with meters turning on for the season next Friday, it remains unclear what the outcome will be.

Though the policy is already technically in place – Village Board members voted 4-1 at a meeting in early February to institute the new policy – business owners sought on Monday night, and Wednesday night again, to come up with a different solution.

With the two sides reportedly challenging to find a middle ground, BID President Tom Schafer – owner of Tommy's Place and Schafer's – has dubbed the issue "Port-quester" after the budget issues in Washington, D.C.

"I'm still beating my head against the wall," Schafer said on Thursday. "They are trying to tell us that managed parking until midnight is necessary, yet the BID and chamber and restaurant owners don't feel it is ... they say they want to help us turnover spots, but we all agree we don't need the help."

Schafer has noted that the new midnight deadline makes Port Jefferson the latest paid parking municipality in the state, has pointed to instances in Rockville Centre – where metered parking past 6 p.m. was rolled back in 2011 – and Greenport – which voted down purchasing meters last year – as examples that limiting paid parking is sometimes in the best interest of villages as well.

Schafer and Barbara Ransome, director of operations of the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, both agreed that no compromise came out of Wednesday night's Parking Committee meeting.

"No one stayed focused to a point," Ransome said Friday, claiming that the conversation often strayed from the issue.

Business leaders reportedly presented a few different alternatives to the new midnight deadline. One called for increasing parking rates, from 50 cents to one dollar an hour, with a two-hour minimum. Another suggested keeeping meters on for an extended period of time throughout the year – all year beside the holiday season. And keeping the meters on during busy holidays such as Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day was also floated.

However, members of the Parking Committee have maintained that the issue of parking space turnover remains an integral point, while revenue from that turnover is just a side effect.

Parking Committee chair George Westbay said that the discussion "just kind of went around and around."

"The main goal is to have a system in place that allows the user to find a space within 10 to 15 minutes in an ideal world by creating turnover through a metered system," he said. "This way, businesses can make money."

"I believe in the shared pain concept," he added. "If everyone is a little unhappy, then everyone gets a little something."

Parking Committee member Dom Famularo said that while any conversation among members of the community is a positive sign, the issue ultimately remains in the hands of the Village Board, which is expected to meet on Monday night to discuss next year's budget, and could take up the issue then. Mayor Margot Garant did not return requests for comment on the matter of paid parking.

Meanwhile Schafer is still hoping to roll back the new policy, saying he plans to contact local cab companies who could shuttle village business employees to off-site parking as one potential solution.

But until then "the Port-quester clock is still ticking," Schafer said.