“It’s an issue that we continually have to manage and rethink,” Sag Harbor Village Mayor Thomas Gardella said at a parking workshop on Dec. 16. “We also have to consider the overall character of our village as we move forward with this.”
Mr. Gardella and the village board met with community members to discuss ways to improve Sag Harbor’s increasingly frustrating parking problem, particularly concerning businesses and their employees.
“I got very alarmed from comments that my tenants have made,” Jill Scheerer, a landlord of several businesses in the village, said. “They are having customers tell them, ‘We’re not coming into Sag Harbor in the summer, we’ve given up, it’s a nightmare.’ “
Mr. Gardella outlined the top recommendations from the village board: eliminating three-day parking in the village and designating all village business district parking as either two-hour, three-hour, 24-hour, or paid parking. There was also a recommendation for annual paid parking permits that would be applicable for the gas ball lot on Bridge Street, the lot behind Schiavoni’s market, along Long Wharf, and at Havens Beach.
According to a draft application the village provided, permits for two vehicles would be free for village property owners and year-round village renters, with a $30 charge to add more vehicles. The permits would also be free for Sag Harbor Fire Department members and ambulance corps volunteers, as well as Sag Harbor school and fire district residents or renters.
Another big recommendation was the implementation of a free satellite parking area for village employees at the Sag Harbor schools, including a shuttle service with designated pick-up and drop-off spots on Main Street.
“Moving employees to the school or the church or wherever is not going to be a perfect solution,” said Ellen Dioguardi, the president of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, noting that shift hours can vary for many employees, particularly at restaurants or Bay Street Theater.
“If we can come up with time frames that work,” she added, “I think that it’s going to be a big help no matter what.” A summer 2025 implementation is the goal.
Delivery trucks are another problem. “I have my biggest problem with parking with trying to get around delivery trucks in the summer,” Ms. Dioguardi said, “particularly the trucks delivering to the liquor stores, to the restaurants, everything.”
“When the trucks park in the center of Main Street and they unload,” the board’s Aidan Corish said, “that seems to be a better solution than having trucks parking along 114 and blocking traffic.”
The idea of new loading zones was then discussed, to keep the delivery trucks out of high-use areas along Route 114 and near Bay Street.
“Loading zones would be key,” Ms. Dioguardi said, “it’s just so haphazard right now, and dangerous in terms of people getting around.”
Mr. Gardella voiced his support for such zones, identifying the strip of Bay Street between Main Street and Division Street as a problem area.
“Provisions or the Corner Bar has their trucks unload,” he said, “big trailers park there, and the problem is you get another truck that’s coming off Main Street and in order for them to navigate they’re basically coming into oncoming traffic.”
“Even cars have to sometimes,” Deputy Mayor Ed Haye added.
The village board will discuss the parking and loading zone proposals further with the chamber of commerce in the new year.
