Ease up on the parking tickets
Parking ticket on a car in a Farmingdale parking lot. (May 9, 2011) Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin
On an Island desperate for thriving downtowns, the last thing we need is barriers to downtown shopping and dining. A prime example is zealous parking enforcement. Now the Village of Farmingdale is sensibly toning it down, to attract more shoppers. Other villages should take note.
The beauty of parking tickets is revenue. For every dollar that meters and tickets bring in, that's a dollar less that villages have to cut in spending or raise in property taxes. To elected officials, that has an almost irresistible appeal.
The ugly of parking tickets is that they scare people away. That's been the complaint by merchants in Farmingdale, a village with too few customers, too many vacant stores and a main parking lot that's free but time-limited. So the village has decided to cut enforcement staff and be less eager to hand out tickets. It's a noble experiment.
Of course, parking restrictions do serve purposes beyond revenue. Each spot is an economic generator, but not if it's tied up all day by a store owner or employee. Meters can discourage spot-hogging and encourage turnover and more business.
Some healthy downtowns do well with metered parking, but there are other ways. In rising Patchogue, parking is free. In bustling Port Jefferson, it's free at some times of the year, metered at others.
Overall, what's needed is a Goldilocks approach to parking: enough enforcement to make spots available, but not so much that it hurts business. That's just right.
