As Metered Parking Ends For Season, Village Mulls New Technology

The village parking meters in Port Jefferson will be suspended for the winter starting at the end of day on Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving, according to an announcement Mayor Margot Garant made at the last public village trustee meeting.

The for business owners and visitors to the village over the years. In the spring, Garant announced that she extended the , from March to April 15 to help alieviate the impact the meters have on the local economy.

One merchant recently wrote an opinion post for the Me4PortJeff.com blog on the parking meters and their affect on the village, which you can read here.

In the past the because of issues with the cellular technology that powers its communications.

During the November board meeting, Trustee Larry LaPointe said that the village is exploring options to update the meters.

"There are many, many different ways of doing parking besides just doing meters," said LaPointe.

The questions, according to LaPointe are, "Should we buy new meters now or continue to use the ones we have? Has price come down? Has credit card processing gotten faster?"

He also mentioned technology that is being used overseas where people can pay with their smart phones, though he said that he didn't think the village was ready for that type of system just yet.

The meters will be covered for the winter starting on Thanksgiving Day and continue to be off for the rest of the winter.