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Many Questions to Examine at Parking Meeting
Dear Editor:
Anyone who lives near Main Street, frequents it, or who has a business there, should come to the firehouse on Thursday night at 7pm, to become a part of the Village's parking discussion.
There are many questions to examine. A permit system, wherein parking on certain streets would be reserved for residents only, apparently requires the consent of the state government. This makes it a complicated endeavor. It seems as if we'd need one anyway; otherwise, meters on Main Street would push cars onto residential streets within reasonable walking distance. Should we entertain meters at all if they aren't accompanied by residential permits?
More broadly, it's important to understand the extent to which the models used by the working group account for the displacement of cars from metered spots to other parts of the village. Meters on Main Street and the municipal lot would turn Morris Avenue, Chestnut Street and Main Street east of the light into de facto parking lots. On weekends, the Metro North lot is free and has no time limit. How will this affect the forecasted revenue from meters? How much will the new system just be a shift of "parking inconvenience" from Main Street to the surrounding areas? Will the village charge for parking on Sundays when most other places don't?
Do local proprietors appreciate the potential that meters have to displace some of their business? A pizzeria or café with free parking on Chestnut Street becomes a more attractive proposition to some customers than one on Main Street when the price of metered parking is factored in. A nearby strip mall with a Home Depot, café, a few restaurants and a variety of other shops might be a more convenient option for some than a trip to Main Street if that trip will cost a few extra dollars. In one sense, the village in bind. Raising municipal revenue is vital, but giving consumers every reason to come to Main Street and spend money there is indispensable to the community at large. We need to understand just how much of any parking plan is intended to raise village revenue, and how much of it is to alleviate parking problems. Some say meters would do both, but to many meters are a nuisance of their own. If it's possible to solve parking problems without charging drivers a visitor tax, is that a more ideal solution? I think paying taxes is patriotic duty, but I also think its best to be straightforward about how we levy them.
Parking, in the end, is an ecological issue: it is about how people interact with their physical environment, in this case using their cars. Changing that environment with meters or permits can have effects that are difficult to anticipate and hard to directly manage. Before Cold Spring becomes the first small village in this region to install parking meters, we must be exceedingly thorough in our planning. The discussion on Thursday is an integral part of that.
Brandon del Pozo
Nelsonville
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