New to Huntington Village: Multi-Space Parking Meters

The next time you park in Huntington Village, take note of the town's new meters.

On Monday, new multi-space parking pay stations in Huntington Village were activated on Main Street and New York Avenue, along with the Huntington Long Island Rail Road Station.

The multi-space meters are part of a series of changes designed to improve parking in Huntington Village, according to the Town. Drivers can now expect:

• a change in the hours for which metered parking is active (10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday)
• the designation of a primary and secondary metered parking zone, with different per-hour parking rates ($1 an hour for the primary zone, 50 cents an hour for the secondary zone)
• an increase to three hours in the maximum a vehicle can remain parked at a spot

As a convenience to drivers, the multi-space pay stations accept both cash and credit cards. The Town is also finalizing the details with the company Parkmobile USA to allow motorists to pay for parking through a smart phone app. The multi-space pay stations are in effect in the primary zone. The secondary zone still has the traditional coin-operated meters. 

To help drivers become aware of the changes and to learn how to use the new pay stations, the Town designated some members of the Public Safety Department as “parking ambassadors,” who were available on New York Avenue and Main Street to provide assistance and to hand out a brochure with the relevant information. The brochure also includes a map of municipal parking lots in the Village, at which parking is free. The brochure will also be available at participating merchants in the Village and on the Town’s website, http://huntingtonny.gov.

The changes implement some of the recommendations contained in a study of parking in Huntington Village commissioned by a consortium that includes the Town, the Town of Huntington Economic Development Corp., the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, the Huntington Village Business Improvement District and the Paramount Theater 

“The consortium continues to explore new ways to enhance the parking experience in Huntington Village, ranging from measures such as these that can be implemented quickly to others that require more time to investigate and plan,” Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone said, in a press release. “I appreciate the hard work that has gone into this effort, and the continuing commitment of all the partners in the consortium to consider and implement innovative solutions to a long-standing issue.”

Among the other shorter-term solutions is improved signage to direct motorists to municipal parking lots. Petrone has also appointed a subcommittee of consortium representatives to look at questions surrounding a parking structure.

What do you think of the new parking meters? Are they an improvement? Tell us in the comments.