Village to review downtown parking meter accuracy

WARWICK — The Warwick Village Board of Trustees has agreed to verify the accuracy of downtown parking meters and to consider extending the two-hour parking time limit to three or four hours.

Trustee Eileen Patterson told the Village Board Monday that some downtown merchants have expressed concerns about the veracity of the meters and the two-hour time limit.

The village needs to be "more parking friendly," she said. "The more I talk with merchants, my answer to them is, 'OK, we'll figure out if that can work.'"

There are parking meters on Main Street, First Street, Railroad Avenue, Oakland Avenue, West Street, South Street, Welling Place within the downtown business district that charge 25 cents an hour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Friday, except holidays.

Patterson said there is a mix of older meters and relatively recently installed digital meters downtown. She said several merchants say customers have incurred $5 parking violation tickets because some meters expire before the two-hour time limit.

The accuracy of the village's parking meters need to be reviewed, Patterson said, "Are they running fast or are they running slow?"

Public Works Supervisor Kirk Williams said he would conduct a survey of random meters to ascertain their accuracy. He questioned if it would be a good idea to extend parking time limits beyond two hours.

The reason why parking is restricted to two hours is to encourage turnover, Williams said, noting extending times to three or four hours could induce "a net loss in parking availability."

Patterson said some merchants and many shoppers say two hours is just not long enough. "It is difficult to shop this village in two hours and I know how to shop," she said. "I shop fast."

- John Haughey