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The East Hampton Town Board discussed the imminent rollout of app-based paid parking in downtown Montauk on Tuesday. CHRISTOPHER WALSH
Montauk will see the introduction of mobile app-based paid parking at three downtown locations starting on Saturday, June 15.
The initiative, East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys said at the Town Board’s work session held at the Montauk Library on Tuesday, is about modernization of timed parking and its enforcement, as well as adding nontax revenue that he said will assist the town in providing other resources.
Payment is via the ParkMobile app, with users able to pay by downloading the app and paying through an account; by scanning a QR code on the ParkMobile sign, or by text message. ParkMobile contact information will be on every sign erected at the paid parking locations. “Virtual permits,” also called sessions, will be issued and enforced through a vehicle’s license plate number, with users entering the zone in which they are parked, with zones listed on installed signs. The ParkMobile app is in use in East Hampton and Sag Harbor villages.
Paid parking will be at locations near the Atlantic Ocean beach: on the east side of South Edison Street between South Elmwood Avenue and South Emerson Avenue, where there are approximately 19 spaces, and at spans on the north and south sides of South Elmwood Avenue between South Edison Street and South Essex Street, where there are approximately 20 spaces.
The cost to park in these locations will be $25 for a four-hour session, and $35 for an eight-hour session. Sessions can be extended using one of the same methods used for initial payment.
The cost to park at the Kirk Park Beach lot, where paid parking has been in effect for the past few years with attendants collecting the fee, will remain at $35 per eight-hour parking period, but will also move to the mobile app-based system. Cash will no longer be accepted at the lot. An attendant will be there this weekend only, Lys said.
Vehicles with a valid town beach parking permit can park at all of these locations with no charge or daily time limit.
Town Police and traffic control vehicles have been equipped with new license plate reader systems, said Lys, and the systems’ software has been integrated with ParkMobile software and the town clerk’s list of valid beach parking permits. The license plate reader software will allow for real time tracking and enforcement of timed parking restrictions.
Police Chief Michael Sarlo, who was unable to attend the meeting, “is a very large proponent of the modernization, using the [license plate reader] systems,” Lys said. License plate reader, or LPR, systems are used within the town but not for parking enforcement, he said, and are “something he has wanted to initialize for a long time.”
A post-season review is to assess the program’s effectiveness, Lys said, and a potential expansion of paid parking and new enforcement techniques will be considered.
Some board members expressed concern about the new program. “I’m slightly nervous,” said Councilman Tom Flight. “I appreciate it is a test, but I think there are some people who are not comfortable using apps, and not necessarily comfortable with cellphones. Taking away that cash option for Kirk Park does concern me slightly.” But, he said, concerns about an adverse impact on the quaintness and character of Montauk are balanced by the town’s staffing challenges, “and in the end, the outcome of this for me is it will actually deliver easier parking for residents,” who will not have to pay, provided their vehicles bear a beach parking permit.
Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmont said that he shares Flight’s concerns, but “in the end, I am supportive.” Parking is being protected for residents, he said. He has “struggled” with parking apps and QR code menus, he said, and “I do think there’s going to be a learning curve here, but at the same time, staffing is a real issue. … I think this is the future, and I hope we can make the transition as smooth as possible.”
