A new downtown Riverhead parking plan calls for implementing and enforcing time-limited parking throughout the downtown business district to prioritize parking availability and convenience for customers and visitors.
The plan, prepared by Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants of Chicago at a cost of $23,000, recommends tweaking existing time limit regulations already in place in downtown parking lots to encourage higher turnover in lots closest to the Main Street central business area and to allow unrestricted parking in more distant lots, for utilization by long-term visitors and employees. The time restrictions would not apply to overnight hours and in some areas would be lifted as of 6 p.m.
The plan also recommends using color-coded striping and signage to designate the various types of times parking: 15- and 30-minute zones and two-, three-, four-hour limits and unlimited zones. Wayfaring signs should also be installed to direct visitors to parking areas and downtown attractions.
The parking district advisory committee has developed an alternative plan that mixes unlimited parking areas and time-restricted areas in most of the downtown lots.
“This is a ‘today’ plan,” committee chairman Martin Sendlewski said. The town can easily implement the new time restrictions and see if they help, he said.
The Schwartz plan suggested implementing the parking district committee’s proposal on a pilot basis for six months.
The plan also recommended some longer-term solutions, including possible areas to be reserved for employee parking or resident parking — by permit only.
Stepped up enforcement of parking regulations is crucial, the consultant’s plan says. It recommends hiring an employee who will be dedicated to enforcement duties.
The consultant also recommended requiring new residential developments to provide onsite parking or make a cash payment in lieu of providing parking. The recommended payment-in-lieu-of-parking fee is $10,000 to $12,000 per space, with required spaces calculated on a per-dwelling unit basis, ranging from .5 space for studio and one-bedroom units to 1.25 spaces for multifamily residential units.
The plan recommends creating a shuttle service to transport people around the downtown district and pursuing a mixed-use development that would include structured parking on the block between Railroad Avenue and Court Street currently improved with a surface parking lot.
Councilman Tim Hubbard, liaison to the parking district advisory committee said he favors a parking structure in the lot behind the Suffolk Theater, because it is more centrally located in the business district.
The consultant recommended placing the structure on the block south of the train station as part of a “transit-oriented development” strategy, which encourages residents to use public transportation instead of private automobiles.
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