Effort to Free Up Parking

    New parking regulations in downtown Montauk are planned for this season in an effort to free up parking spaces near businesses close to the beaches, which are often tied up all day by beachgoers.

    The East Hampton Town Board will vote tonight to set a hearing for May 16 on a proposal developed by a parking committee of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce. It would limit parking to two hours in much of the area south of Main Street surrounding Edison Beach, including along South Etna Avenue and South Edison Street.

    Laraine Creegan, the executive director of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce, told the town board at a work session on Tuesday that parking near downtown businesses is increasingly occupied by “all-day beachgoers that are creeping up from Edison Beach.”

    All-day parking will continue to be available at the Kirk Park lot, near the I.G.A. market, which is free to nonresidents and residents alike. That lot, Ms. Creegan said, has been underutilized, and a larger sign will be erected informing the public that the lot is open to all, without limited hours.

    East Hampton Town Police Capt. Michael Sarlo, who worked with Ms. Creegan and others on the committee, along with Councilman Dominick Stanzione, said that “from a public safety standpoint, the recommendations make clear sense” and would help to “clean up a lot of the shoulders of the roadways,” where haphazard parking caused potential dangers to pedestrians and bike riders. “It just created a little bit of a chaotic scene,” Captain Sarlo said. Spaces, both parallel and head-in, will be marked, he said.

    In addition to the street-parking limits, parking in the lot behind Plaza Sports will be limited to two hours or designated only for those with resident parking permits.