Chase lot permit holders may soon get reduced ticket fees - New handicap spots proposed

Warwick — You have a permit to park in the JP Morgan Chase parking lot on South Street but you get a ticket anyway. Then you realize your placard was not displayed in the window. Used to be that meant an automatic $25 fee for the ticket. That may change. The Village of Warwick, which leases the lot from the bank and rents out the 75 spots on a yearly basis, will hold a public hearing on Monday, March 17, to change the local law regarding parking penalties in the lot. Currently, anyone parking in the lot without a valid permit gets hit with the $25 ticket. What is proposed is to allow the permit holder, whose placard was not displayed and therefore received a ticket in the lot, to come to the Village court before the end of the next business day to have that ticket reduced to $10. A valid permit must be in effect to have the ticket reduced. Assistant Village Clerk Barbara Ranieri-Albaroudy said the permits are tied to license plates although some businesses receive more than one placard for different employees who use the spot on different days. Also to be discussed at the public hearing is the proposal to add a second handicap parking spot on South and Second Streets. The request originally came from the Rev. Scott Barker of Christ Episcopal Church. The location is near both the Episcopal Church and the Warwick Assembly of God Church, neither of which has a large parking lot for its parishioners. The Village Board agreed that designating a handicap spot in this location would be prudent. The village will also discuss adding a handicap spot at the Chase Parking Lot. The public hearing will commence at 7:30 p.m. on March 17.