In August, the Board of Trustees will begin review of a series of proposed local laws that will revise the parking regulations for the downtown area. These revisions are the most sweeping changes to Irvington’s parking regulations since the early 1990s.
There are two main goals for the revisions: Match parking demand with parking supply and simplify the regulations.
If Main Street were divided into 3 parking districts based on geography (upper, middle, lower), it would be readily apparent that the middle parking district (defined as Main Street from Dutcher to Ferris Streets) would be the area with the highest demands on parking. The many residents, employees of businesses, and patrons of businesses all put a heavy demand on the limited parking in this district. At the same time, for example, the lower parking district (defined as Main Street from Astor to Dutcher Streets) generally has a surplus of available parking throughout the day.
The new regulations seek to alter this imbalance by allowing on-street parking only in specific districts for the employees of downtown businesses. By way of example, an employee of a business located on Main Street between Dutcher and Eckar Streets (middle parking district) might not be allowed to park in the middle parking district where the business is located.
At the same time that parking is being redistributed, the regulations throughout the downtown area are being simplified. Currently, hourly parking limits vary widely and can be 1, 2, 4, or 6 hours depending on the street. The new regulations will standardize the time limit to 2 hours throughout the downtown area and a few scattered 15 minute parking spaces to accommodate certain businesses. The only exception will be the lower part of Main Street (including North Astor and North Buckhout Streets), closest to the Irvington train station, which will remain as 6 hour parking to allow for short day-trips into New York City. It should be noted that downtown residents that hold a Resident Parking Permit are allowed, as they are now, to park on the side streets during the day in excess of the posted time limits. So, those residents are unaffected by the hourly limit changes.
On a final note, the current regulations effectively prohibit overnight parking of vehicles on the street, except for certain streets in the downtown area. The new regulations will help residents, many of whom do not have driveways, by allowing overnight parking on all downtown streets.
While the public hearing will open on August 21, it is expected to remain open at least until the September 18 meeting. Please forward any comments or questions about the new downtown parking regulations to Lawrence Schopfer, Village Administrator at lschopfer@irvingtonny.gov.
The following is a summary of the parking regulation changes proposed:
- Change Main Street to 2 hour parking (8am to 8pm, M-F) for the entire length except for specific spaces that are currently 15 minute parking. Currently, nearly all of Main Street is 1 hour parking (8am to 6pm, M-F).
- Change all Main Street side streets to 2 hour parking (8am to 8pm, M-F) (except near North Buckhout / North Astor Streets). Currently, nearly all of the side streets are 6 hour parking (8am to 6pm, M-F). North Buckhout / North Astor Streets remains 6 hour parking (8am to 6pm, M-F).
- Modify Residential Parking Permit rules to make the permit be effective from 8am to 8pm.
- Eliminate overnight parking restrictions on Main Street and all of the side streets.
- Modify the Aqueduct parking rules to allow for non-resident parking during working hours (8am to 8pm) and resident parking at all times.
- Make 10 permits available in the Fieldpoint parking lot for non-resident parking during working hours (8am to 8pm).
- Modify Residential Parking Permit rules to create 3 districts of parking: Upper, Middle, Lower as follows:
Lower
Astor, Buckhout, Cottenet, Main Street (between Astor and Dutcher)
Middle
Dutcher, Ecker, Ferris, Main Street (between Dutcher and Ferris)
Upper
Grinnel, Aqueduct, Dearman, Broadway, Home, Croton, Main Street (between Ferris and Broadway)
- Modify Residential Parking Permit rules to allow issuance of a limited number of parking permits to businesses in the Main Street area for use by employees. Permits would be issued on a first-come, first-served basis for any of 3 parking districts.