After Sag Harbor Village began charging for parking spaces in the Long Wharf lot on Friday, residents and visitors said they were dismayed that yet another cost has been added to daily life on the South Fork.
"I've been coming out here for many years, my daughter is a resident, and this is a little tacky," said Betty Abbraciamento, who was driving through the lot on Monday to look at the bay. "I love the community, but this is not something that people should be charged for. It was one of the only perks that you could get as a visitor, to sit here and enjoy a cup of coffee, and feel 'How lucky am I that I can look at all this beauty.' "
"I do understand that they're trying to raise money, but it seems like they just keep encroaching on us," said Daniel Skinner, a resident of 50 years who also likes to linger in the lot to look at the harbor. "I pay my taxes every year, and I think it's just encroachment."
East Hampton Village's plan to begin charging for parking in the Reutershan and Schenck lots on Monday has been delayed, but, according to Mayor Jerry Larsen, it will begin "very soon." Both villages have hired ParkMobile, a smartphone app-based payment service to process the parking fees. The ParkMobile app is available for free in the Apple and Google Play app stores. After creating an account, users must add their vehicle's license plate number, and a payment method. Parking sessions are initiated by entering the parking zone number, which will be displayed on signs in each location.
In the Long Wharf lot, or "Zone 13558" as it is known on the app, a maximum of three hours of parking is allowed before 6 p.m., and a maximum of five hours afterward. The first hour is free -- although ParkMobile does charge a 30-cent transaction fee for each session -- and additional hours will cost $4 per hour. A telephone at the harbormaster's office on Long Wharf is available to initiate a parking session for those without a smartphone. The lot also has several free 30-minute spaces.
Because the village has kept parking signage sparse on the newly restored Long Wharf, several people parked there on Monday were unaware of the lot's new rules. "They don't have enough signs," said Mark Schwartz, who was not opposed to the parking fees. Turnover in the lots will be necessary because "the village is going to be so overwhelmed with people this summer," he said. "I've only been living here five years, but ever since they built the Watchcase [condominiums], it's gotten more crowded, and then Covid propelled it 10 times over."
Ann Marquardt lives within walking distance of Long Wharf, so she won't be impacted by the fees, she said, but "I'm concerned that it might be a hardship on other people." The upside of paid parking, she said, is that the village intends to use the revenue to pay for sidewalk repair and other infrastructure needs.
For some, the process of paying for parking is more troublesome than the price. "I'm tired of having to use my phone for everything, honestly," said Barbara Gerstner, an East Hampton resident. "I don't like the idea. Not everybody is technologically-minded."
"I'm a local, so I use the parking lot a lot," said Leon Esker, who thinks the village's experiment with paid parking will be short-lived. "When you think about the transient nature of the parking that goes on here, I don't think this is consistent with that," he said. "They say the first hour's free, but it doesn't mean you can just park here, go, and come back in 10 minutes. If you want to grab a cup of coffee or say hi to a friend, you'll have to get your phone out. It's another chore you have to do. And with the coming and going that occurs in this town, there's going to be a lot of pushback."
When paid parking begins in East Hampton's downtown Reutershan and Schenck parking lots, parking Zones 59101 and 59102 respectively, a maximum of three hours of parking will be allowed daily between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Village residents will be able to park for free as long as they have a beach permit or register their vehicles with Village Hall. Everyone else -- including town residents outside of the village and visitors from other areas -- will be allowed two hours of free parking and the option to pay $10 for a third hour. Several free half-hour parking spaces will be available in both lots, and street parking will also remain free. People without a smartphone can set up an account by calling 877-727-5730. Those who want to legally park for more than the allowed time will have to leave the lots, re-enter, and log back into the app.
Signs were going up yesterday in the Reutershan lot and the paid-parking program is set to officially begin on Monday.
In the municipal lot at 73 North Main Street in East Hampton, two hours of free parking will be available between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., but drivers must log into the app.
The ParkMobile app will replace the payment machines in East Hampton's long-term lots off Gingerbread and Lumber Lanes. In the former, parking for more than 23 hours will cost $10 per day, and in the latter, a maximum of seven days will be allowed for $5 per day. The formerly free spaces for seven-day parking on Railroad Avenue will now cost $15 per day. Beachgoers seeking to buy a $50 daily parking permit at East Hampton's Main or Two Mile Hollow Beaches can do so via the app.
