East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys took his own projector to the first Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee meeting of the year to show the committee early plans to change the parking rules for several municipal lots throughout Montauk.
In this proposal, the currently unrestricted or unenforced parking rules in four large parking lots in Montauk would come to an end and parking would be limited to two hours, or in some cases 72 hours for those who have a valid East Hampton Town permit.
At present permit holders can park in these lots as long as they want with no restrictions. “This summer we found cars parked there with weeds underneath them,” Mr. Lys said.
Additionally the plans include the designation of five 30-minute parking spaces in the lot on South Euclid and South Embassy Streets near the police substation.
The other three municipal lots are located behind Main Street shops: one behind the former White’s Pharmacy, also on South Euclid Street, one by the Air and Speed Surf Shop on South Edison Street, and the last behind the Montauk Surf and Sports shop on South Embassy and South Elmwood Streets.
The present code is a mix of three different lines of legislation from 2011, 2013, and 2014, causing confusion and hindering enforcement, according to Mr. Lys.
Better enforcement is the impetus behind the changes. Mr. Lys spoke about looking over the code with East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo and Sgt. Kenneth Alversa. Each deemed it “too ambiguous to enforce correctly.” For example the lot behind the former White’s Pharmacy right now has no enforceable parking restrictions.
“So you’re actually giving a time enforcement in an area that’s never had a time enforcement,” Mr. Lys said.
A common question among the committee members was whether or not there would be long-term parking anywhere in Montauk if this is implemented.
“So where can residents put their cars long term,” asked Barbara Grimes, stipulating “more than 72 hours.” This question was later qualified by John Chimples.
“If all your proposals are implemented,” he asked, “where would someone go who wanted to park for a week?”
Mr. Lys gestured to street spots on the projected map that will, according to him, “remain unregulated.” Additionally right now there are parking spots along South Erie Street, from the public restrooms to the brewing company, that are unrestricted.
However, Mr. Lys indicated that the town is looking into eliminating overnight parking on that street, thus removing that option.
In terms of timing, Mr. Lys hopes that the town board will be able to have a public hearing on the changes in March, which would allow feedback from New York State to be returned and the changes implemented before the summer season begins.
