3 Open Houses for Public Comment on Sandy Hook Parking Fee Increase

Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area - Are you angry about the parking fee increase at Sandy Hook? The National Park Service is holding three open houses this month for the public to come and voice their opinions on the proposed fee hike:

• Gunnison Beach’s parking plaza on Friday, August 12 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Lot D’s parking plaza on Saturday, August 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• An open house on August 31 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sandy Hook Chapel

The new fees, should they be approved, would start in summer 2017 and they are: $20 per day (currently $15), $100 per season (currently $75), $50 per oversize car per day (currently $30) and $200 per oversize car per season (currently $150). The public can also submit ideas for how the park can increase revenue without a parking fee increase.

Visitors with Senior or Access Passes would be charged half price for parking, as they are currently. This would be Gateway’s first parking fee increase since 2012. The money from the parking fees will help improve visitor facilities and services, the park says, such as rehabilitated campgrounds, expanding the docking facility at Sandy Hook; path paving; rehabilitating the Sandy Hook lighthouse and adding a webcam at the lighthouse.

You can also submit written suggestions, comments and concerns online at Gateway_Fee_increase@nps.gov. The public engagement period on the proposed fee increase opened on Friday, July 29 and runs through September 5. Or, write to the following address:

Office of the Superintendent

Gateway National Recreation Area

ATTN: Proposed parking fee increase

210 New York Avenue

Staten Island, New York 10305