While there has been chatter about a pilot parking program coming to the Bellmore and Merrick railroad stations, the Town of Hempstead said that nothing is set in stone yet.
According to Mike Deery, town spokesman, the Town is still involved in meetings and creating field maps of the parking lot to help better develop this pilot program.
"There is no date yet as to when this will launch. It depends on when our engineering department is done with the maps and the LIRR reviews the maps. We may decide that the plans need a little more tweaking," he said.
According to Claudia Borecky, president of the North and Central Merrick Civic Association and chair of the LIRR Parking Committee, the proposed program currently states that about 10 percent of the parking would be restricted to Town of Hempstead permit holders. The permit would cost residents $3 annually.
Deery also said that although the parking concern is top priority, there are a few other issues that need to be taken into consideration, including the fact that there are people that go to the city infrequently that will still need places to park.
"There are a variety of issues that go beyond the permits and we want to make sure those people are taken into consideration," Deery said.
Deery also explained that permit parking in the other stations, such as Seaford and Wantagh, may have evolved and the pilot program at the Bellmore and Merrick stations may do the same, depending on the outcome.
"We suspect that there may have been changes and additional permit spaces were added as needed [at other stations]. There has been no significant call for permits at Bellmore and Merrick in the past, but now that there is a call, the Town wants to be able to accommodate those residents as much as possible," Deery said.
