Huntington – Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci announced the Town’s new Parking Enforcement Team (PET) has exceeded expectations since its unofficial deployment on March 1 as the parking violations amnesty program ends.
Under Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci’s direction, the Department of Public Safety began dedicating patrol resources to the new Parking Enforcement Team (PET) in downtown Huntington village and at the Huntington LIRR Train Station beginning on March 1.
“We have received positive feedback regarding the increased visibility of the PET patrols, particularly in the village,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci. “We are stepping up enforcement to alleviate our long-standing parking congestion. This is another ‘first step’ in solving the parking issue. We have to exhaust every option before committing to altering the landscape of historic downtown Huntington to solve a problem that has existed for a long time and has only been made worse by the granting of parking variances in previous years for development we just cannot sustain.”
Prior to the full-time, dedicated Parking Enforcement Team (PET) patrol roll-out, the Town employed a patchwork of enforcement, scheduling patrols periodically, using available resources. The new Parking Enforcement Team currently employs two dedicated, full-time officers, specialists in parking enforcement who patrol regularly, as well as occasional part-time resources as they become available and if conditions warrant; the near-term goal is to have a minimum of four full-time PET officers, supplementing their efforts with occasional part-time resources.
“It’s too early to expect much in the way of behavioral change by our parking patrons, which is the goal of our new, consistent parking enforcement patrols, but the PET has certainly made a difference, as the early returns bear out,” said Supervisor Lupinacci.
Looking at the period from March 1 through April 10, 2019, PET officers have written a total of 3,303 parking summonses with a face value of $233,935; 1,550 summonses with a $129,830 face value were written for the same period in 2018. Summons activity increases were largest in meter violations (both the quantity and the dollar amount increased by 90%) and commuter permit violations (both the quantity and the dollar amount increased by more than 1,000%).
Public Safety Director Peter Sammis stated: “We’ve had virtually no negative feedback from the public since we rolled out our Parking Enforcement Team and summons numbers are up over 100%. I think people are relieved to see the enforcement of parking rules, especially when there has been abuse of parking for so long. Just this past week, my PET officers have told me they’ve been very well received – at this rate they will probably have celebrity status around here by summer!”
The Department of Public Safety encourages parking patrons to report parking issues or suspected abuse of parking rules using the Town’s At Your Service system, online at http://www.huntingtonny.gov/public-safety
The Town Attorney’s office, in coordination with the Department of Public Safety, ran a parking violations amnesty program offering a one-time discount of 40% on the total balance of all outstanding fees on delinquent parking summonses for violations issued between January 1, 2013 through June 30, 2018, ahead of plans to increase enforcement efforts to collect on delinquent summonses and implement consequences for non-payment.
The parking violations amnesty program has collected $162,161 on 972 previously delinquent parking summonses, representing over 20% of unpaid summonses eligible for the program. All currently unpaid parking summonses have returned to their original balances and may result in further action by the Town to collect.
“This is money the Town never would have seen in the past due to inconsistent collection efforts,” said Supervisor Lupinacci. “We are taking a proactive approach to free up parking and increasing enforcement helps ensure there is no abuse of parking that will hinder the downtown Huntington village experience for our parking patrons.”
The Town Board is scheduled to vote on strengthening the Town’s ability to enforce parking rules at the 2:00 PM Town Board meeting on Tuesday, April 16; the new rules, which would go into effect on July 1 if passed, will enhance the Town’s ability to process and collect on parking violations, resulting in increased revenues to the Town and alleviate parking issues at the Huntington LIRR Train Station and downtown Huntington village. Violators will be required to respond to a ticket within 30 days and failure to do so will result in the imposition of a default judgment, nonrenewal of New York State motor vehicle registration (if applicable) and/or immobilization. In addition, scofflaws will not be eligible to obtain various Town-issued permits and licenses, including: taxi and tow truck licenses, commuter parking permits, and Town recreational cards.
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