Greenwich Selectmen Consider Changes To Timed Parking In Amogerone Lot

GREENWICH, CT — The Board of Selectmen is considering making changes to timed parking in the Amogerone parking lot in downtown Greenwich.

This past July, the town's department of parking services implemented a pilot program which changed parking in the small lot from two hours down to 15 minutes.

During a presentation to the board during its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Capt. Kraig Gray of the Greenwich Police Department, who also oversees parking services for the town, explained that the lot is attached to the USPS building, which has a continuous flow of customers during traditional business.

The lot has just 15 spaces.

Gray also said the lot is in close proximity to many other surrounding businesses and restaurants whose customers are also looking for parking in the area.

"As you're aware there's a lot of problems on Greenwich Avenue with a lack of spaces. Over the years we've received a lot of complaints from the area of the post office about a lack of short term parking," Gray said. "We thought there was an opportunity to put in place a pilot program, limited in scope and time, to just see how changing of the utilization might affect the traffic flow."

Gray said the town has received complaints about the fire hydrant located near the lot, the crosswalks there, and double parkers.

Along with the limited pilot program, parking services conducted an online survey to get resident feedback.

According to the results, 273 respondents were Greenwich residents, and 17 were non-residents. Gray said that 86 percent of respondents said the 15-minute pilot program met their expectations, while 14 percent said it didn't.

"The 14 percent that said no, I think it was because it wasn't an exact and perfect solution for them. Many made mention that they needed more time or had to wait in the post office for a longer length of time," Gray said.

Most people used the post office while parked in the lot.

The board did not vote to add 15-minute parking in order to allow time for public feedback, but they expressed their support.

"To me, it's a really nice balance. One of the things we're finding as we try to add parking whenever we can is that the hardest thing is the short-term," First Selectman Fred Camillo said.

"A lot of us like to walk, but there are some people who can't walk and they need to be close by for a few minutes. This is really huge, and maybe at some point we can look to other areas down the Avenue. But this is a great start," Camillo added.

Selectperson Lauren Rabin said she'd like to see similar solutions implemented at the bottom of Greenwich Avenue, where people often run in and out of coffee shops.

The selectmen wondered if perhaps 30 minutes would be more appropriate and manageable for people.

Gray said 30 minutes was more reasonable because anything shorter would strain parking enforcement staff and take attention away from other lots.

He also said if drivers got held up at a business, they wouldn't have to worry about getting a ticket in such a short amount of time.

Gray said the pilot program did not result in a huge change, but he called the whole process "productive."

"[The pilot program] was very limited in scope, very limited in location, but it definitely improved the parking situation in that area," Gray said. "I see no reason why we couldn't permanently convert it from its current configuration from long-term to short-term."