Selectmen Approve Parking Meter Increase For Greenwich Avenue

GREENWICH, CT — The board of selectmen on Wednesday unanimously approved parking meter fee increases to the Greenwich Avenue area, but not for as much as previously proposed.

Greenwich Deputy Police Chief Kraig Gray, who also leads the town's parking services department, went before the board on Wednesday afternoon to present a revised proposal, which was approved with no debate.

Currently, the meter rate for parking on Greenwich Avenue is $1 per hour. Following Wednesday's vote, the new rate will be $1.50 per hour, or 50 cents per 20 minutes.

Residents will have to pay $1.25 per hour (25 cents per 12 minutes), up from $1, at two-hour parking meters.

Additionally, long-term 12-hour parking meters in central Greenwich will increase from 75 cents to $1 per hour.

"Part of the reason we have this tiered approach to the parking is, for the parking inventory we actually have downtown, which is a premium location, we're trying to create some value in the back lots where there always is some parking, versus those premium spots that are in the front," Gray reiterated to the selectmen on Wednesday.

"The hope, of course, is that this will encourage people to use the available spots to overcome human nature to park in the closest spot and actually see value in parking in the back," Gray added.

When Gray first went before the board on Feb. 23, he proposed a fee of $2 per hour for Greenwich Avenue and $1.50 for the two-hour meters.

Since then, the board expressed concerns about the percentage increase of the fees and the impact on those with fixed incomes, and received feedback from some residents.

Gray went back and examined coastal communities along the New Haven Metro-North line from New York City to Westport to come up with a revised plan.

"I know dollar-wise it wasn't a big deal, but percentage-wise it was. We get what you're trying to do there, and it's actually I think the right thing to do," First Selectman Fred Camillo said Wednesday.

Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan thanked Gray for responding to the board's concerns.

Selectwoman Lauren Rabin mentioned the possibility of revisiting the fees in the future after there's been enough time to evaluate the impacts of the changes.

"If it's not really helping get people off Greenwich Avenue and into the longer-term, less expensive parking spots, then it's something we have to think about again," Rabin said.

In February, Gray said any meter changes could take effect as early as April 3.