Consultants hired by Village of Great Neck Plaza trustees have recommended that the village reduce the time limit of some parking spots and increase meter rates to improve parking in the Plaza.
The recommendations of the Old Bethpage-based Level G Associates to improve parking conditions downtown will be formally presented at the village trustees’ May 6 meeting, according to a statement released by the village on Monday.
“With Mr. Giosa and his firm’s vast knowledge of parking management strategies, the board felt hiring a parking expert to advise the board on ways to improve metered parking opportunities was a prudent course of action,” Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender said in the statement. “We are looking to achieve greater turnover of our metered parking spaces and enable shoppers and visitors to more easily find accessible parking spaces.”
A draft of the recommendations, available on the village’s website, suggest reducing the two-hour parking limit at 92 Middle Neck Road parking spaces to 90 minutes. The consultants recommend keeping the two-hour limit for the remaining 343 on-street parking spots in the Plaza.
The consultants also recommend a reduction in the parking limit from four hours to two hours for about 65 our of the 90 spots in the Gussack Plaza Lot and increasing the fees for all on-street meters as well as meters in the Gussack Plaza and the Grace Avenue lots from 25 cents an hour to 50 cents an hour.
Level G also recommends the village immediately allow for $5 per 10-hour parking at the Maple Drive parking garage so employees in the north and west areas of the Plaza’s business district have more access to 10-hour meters.
Gerard Giosa of Level G went before trustees in December to make preliminary recommendations, which included increasing meters rates and reducing parking times. Giosa said in December that the main parking issues were employees using parking spaces intended for shoppers, not enough employee parking and not enough parking space turnover.
Residents have said that raising parking rates and decreasing parking limits will make residents not want to shop downtown.
Level G consultants said in a draft memorandum that there is no evidence linking increased parking fees and decreased business, and that some communities such as Rockville Centre, Mineola and Huntington have increased parking fees in recent years and have thriving downtowns.
The consultants also said in the memorandum that shorter parking times are needed to discourage employees of downtown businesses from monopolizing parking intended for shoppers.
