Maple Drive garage parking meter time limit increased

Joe Nikic

In an effort to create more available parking during the repaving of the Maple Drive parking lot, Great Neck Plaza trustees voted Wednesday to increase the time limit of the Maple Drive parking garage meters from two hours to four hours.

Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender said at Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting that the village wanted to assure that residents who park in the Maple Drive parking lot, which allows for four-hour parking, would have somewhere to park during the repaving project.

“We have a lot of unutilized parking meters in the Maple Drive garage but they are two-hour meters,” Celender said. “I’d like to change them, in the interim, to four-hour meters.”

The repaving of the Maple Drive parking lot got the go ahead on March 2 when trustees unanimously voted to approve a bid from Bohemia-based contracting company J. Anthony Enterprises.

Celender said she estimates construction will take between three and four months, lasting until the end of summer.

There are 77 parking meters in the Maple Drive garage that will be changed from a two-hour to four-hour time limit.

Village Attorney Richard Gabriele said after construction is completed, the village has the option to return the meters to a two-hour limit, or leave them at four hours.

Also at the meeting, Celender said the board was considering a credit card payment service for the village’s parking meters.

She said the village and parking services company, ParkMobile, have a draft agreement for it to collect payments from residents who would prefer to pay parking meters by credit card rather than feeding the meter with quarters.

“This is to be able to provide for those who want to pay by mobile app or smart phone,” Celender said. “It doesn’t require them to go through the Muni-Meters, they can pay right on their phone.”

While ParkMobile would make parking meter payments more “convenient” for residents, she said, the company would charge a 45-cent fee per transaction.

Celender also said prior to speaking with ParkMobile, she spoke with other municipalities on Long Island who utilize its service.

“Everyone that I spoke with had nothing but good things to say about ParkMobile, in terms of their service, reliability and payment,” she said.

Gabriele said the village would have the ability to cancel the agreement if it experiences three or more service interruptions in a six-month span, or two or more service interruptions in a three-day span if it goes unresolved.

The board voted to adjourn from making a decision for Gabriele to further look at the details of the agreement.

The next board meeting is on May 4.

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