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PORT CHESTER, N.Y. -- It will soon cost Port Chester residents and other visitors more to park their cars at a meter downtown.
The Board of Trustees approved a a measure Monday to increase the rates and time of parking meters both on the street and in parking lots. Currently a quarter buys 20 minutes at a meter, but with this measure it will only buy 15 minutes, essentially raising the cost of parking from 75 cents per hour to $1 per hour.
The board also extended the hours that parking meters will be in effect. Meters will be in effect until 9 p.m., rather than the current times of 6 p.m. on the streets and 7 p.m. on the lots.
The changes would go into effect on June 1. It is estimated that the changes would bring in around $427,000. Village officials believe that this would help increase revenue to the village without raising property taxes, and would also place some of the burden for additional revenue on people from other towns who visit the downtown area.
There was some backlash to the extended hours at a public hearing held Monday. Some local businesses believe it could drive away customers, particularly at restaurants, according to Ken Manning, president of the Port Chester-Rye Brook-Rye Town Chamber of Commerce. He suggested that some of the revenues from increased rates and hours be given back to businesses for different programs such as a fund for hurricane and flood damage.
Although the hours for parking meters were extended to 9 p.m., many members of the Board of Trustees were in favor of only extending them to 8 p.m. Another public hearing will be held at the board's meeting on May 20, where the board will consider adjusting the hours to 8 p.m.
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