With parking, or lack thereof, an issue in the Southold hamlet center, the town board examined options on Tuesday.
One idea, said Southold town engineers Jamie Richter and Michael Collins, would be to temporarily expand the parking lot in back of Town Hall.
The town could get some stone for free and take down some trees to open up the space for parking, Richter said, adding that he’d brought the idea to Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell, who suggested a town board discussion.
The parcel is owned by the town, Russell said, with the northerly section purchased in the late 1980s or early 90s, and the section to the south, adjacent to the current parking lot, acquired by eminent domain during former Supervisor Josh Horton’s administration.
Expanding the lot would mean the town would gain approximately 40 parking stalls at Town Hall on the Traveler Street side, to “ease” congestion, Richter said.
“We have such a crisis with parking in the hamlet center and while this is farther away than I’d like, it’s at least addressing the very limited parking we have now,” Russell said.
Councilman Bill Ruland agreed that the expanded lot was a good idea.
Later, if the board decided to go with a more permanent solution, Richter said an additional four to six inches of stone could be put down.
The temporary use, Richter said, would not change any future use of the property.
“It sounds like a good plan,” Councilwoman Jill Doherty said.
Next, the board discussed a municipal parking lot, to the west of the party store on Main Road, where two-hour parking has generated some complaints from some in the area who think the two-hour limit is too restrictive.
Other business owners support the two-hour limit because they “like the turnover” in clientele, Russell said.
Doherty asked if perhaps the lot could be divided “half and half”; Russell said the lot is already divided in that manner, with the back section unrestricted and other areas marked for two-hour parking.
He added that store and medical office employees are “hard-pressed” to find parking because of the two-hour limit. “Both sides have issues, and I’d like to see them come together,” Russell said, adding that it was difficult to have a group discussion with the merchants because they are an “informal group”.
Ruland suggested the transporation committee look into the issues and discuss alternatives.
