"On the West Coast, municipal lots are dominated by campers and camper vans and it's to no one's benefit," East Hampton Town Councilman Tom Flight said at the April 16 town board work Session. He was commending a new draft law introduced by Councilman David Lys that would prohibit overnight parking at 31 town parking lots and road ends.
The proposed legislation was developed because the East Hampton Town police and the beach advisory committee had requested more stringent regulations that would allow enforcement "to stop increased overnight parking that they are seeing at road ends and parks." The one exception would be at the Star Island parking lot, where commercial fishermen engaged in commercial fishing activity would still be allowed to keep their cars.
"There are a lot of instances where people come out for a weekend and leave their car at the end of a road end," said Councilwoman Cate Rogers. "That's not the intended use."
The board indicated its support for the overnight parking ban before it moved on to discuss new potential stop signs and more parking restrictions.
The first two stop signs were proposed at a blind turn on South Eton Road and South Emerson Avenue in Montauk. South Emerson Avenue runs parallel to Montauk Highway and is a popular way to avoid traffic through the downtown. The problem is that the Kirk Park Beach parking lot is near the curve and many people cross the road to access the beach. One stop sign would be added for drivers headed south on Eton Road, and another for those driving west on South Emerson Avenue. "This location in Montauk has been a yearly discussion for the town and residents," read a memo from the town attorney's office.
"For this location it's a public safety initiative," said Councilman Lys.
A second Montauk intersection, now home to three stop signs, could soon have a fourth. Where Second House Road meets South DeWitt Place and South Dearborn Place was described as "awkward" by Councilman Lys. "It's a very confusing intersection," agreed Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmonte.
Second House Road is the main thoroughfare up to the Montauk School and is traversed by a crosswalk. Councilman Lys had originally proposed a yield sign, but Councilman Flight said, "I think it would be a safer option to have a stop sign. My son cycles to school up there, so it's personal to me." The board signaled agreement, even though Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said, "If we talk stop signs, we should go to Chief [Michael] Sarlo." Councilman Lys agreed to speak with him before bringing the proposal back before the board.
Two more stop signs were mulled where Cross Highway meets Fresh Pond Road in Amagansett. "This area has become a cut-through," said Councilman Lys. "People go around the corner at high speed."
"Most of the time when you're coming down the road, you're not focused on the adjacent parking lot," said Councilwoman Rogers. "This really is potentially quite dangerous."
Public hearings on all the stop sign recommendations, minus the one at Second House Road, which requires more review, will be held next Thursday.
The board also considered parking restrictions. It first discussed Hardscrabble Court, off Route 114, which Stephen Lynch, the highway superintendent, had told the board is receiving too much overflow parking from nearby commercial businesses. "Clearly any car parked in the circle is impeding emergency access," said Councilwoman Rogers. The board agreed there should be no parking along the circle of the court or on the road leading to the circle.
The second location members discussed restricting parking was on South Etna Avenue in Montauk. Councilman Lys said that it's the only right of way in downtown Montauk that doesn't have parking restrictions. As it is adjacent to businesses, the concern was that the spots could get full of day parkers looking to avoid the town's new paid parking lots, which would negatively affect businesses.
"You're seeing a lot of beach parkers that do the beach shuffle with bags before heading down to the beach," he said. The recommendation was to restrict nonresident parking along the road to one hour.
"I have reservations about a one-hour limit here," said Councilman Flight. He supported ending full-day parking there but questioned if someone would have enough time to go eat lunch and visit a business or two in just an hour. "It could have negative impacts. I'd rather see a two or three-hour limit."
"The other side of Goldberg's is two hours," said Councilman Lys. "We could go to that."
