The Mineola board of trustees voted to suspend metered parking at Jericho Turnpike, Willis Ave and Mineola Boulevard on Saturdays in the village during December.
Streets connecting Willis Avenue and Mineola Boulevard will also not have enforced metered parking on Saturdays in December, Village Clerk Joseph Scalero said at a village meeting last Wednesday.
The vote came after some minor tweaks, Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said.
Initially, the meter suspension from Nov. 30 to Dec. 31 was meant to go village-wide, Strauss said.
“We were going to go village-wide with it but after review and hearing some comments from [the board] but members of the community also, there are certain areas that this would not actually help,” Strauss said. “We don’t want to hurt any local businesses on any level so that’s why we’re tweaking a little bit. “
Strauss said that “pretty much anything west” of Mineola Boulevard will still have enforced metered parking, like streets around the Mineola LIRR train station and 1st street.
“The idea of meters is to turn over and get people in and out so that businesses survive,” Strauss said.
Strauss said that this was to inspire residents to shop locally during the holiday season.
“Folks, please take this opportunity, not only Saturdays but every day to shop locally and support our stores,” Strauss said. “A big part of their success sits with us as a community.”
Parking has been a common source of discussion at village meetings, especially after the village recently hired new parking enforcement staff.
Scalero said in a previous interview that issues of understaffing have led to less code enforcement and regulations like metered parking on Saturdays have always existed in the village.
“The Saturday rules have always been in place. We haven’t changed those,” Strauss said at a previous meeting.
Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira said that the Mineola School District will host a memorial soccer game and fundraising dinner honoring Christian Melendez, A Mineola student who died in a car accident Dec. 24, 2018.
The event will be at Mineola High School Jan. 3, which would have been Melendez’s 20th birthday, Pereira said.
