Parking Dearth Hurts Local Shops

"There are a lot of problems in Rockville Centre," said Jay Post, owner of Happy Hostess on Sunrise Highway. "But parking is the main issue."

Post, who has been a member of the Chamber of  Commerce for 40 years, said the lack of free parking has driven away customers. "I have customers coming in saying they're not coming back to Rockville Centre because they're getting tickets or because of the meters," Post said.

Other village business owners, like Mike Leo of Plaza Seafood on Sunrise Highway, agreed with Post. 

"The parking situation is killing businesses," Leo said. "Even the people from the town are fed up. They don't want to shop in Rockville Centre; they'd rather go to other towns to shop."

Village officials, however, are well aware of the parking problems, and said it's been an issue for decades. "Parking has been an issue in Rockville Centre at least since the 1950s," said Jeff Kluewer , spokesman for the village. "The village has added spaces whenever it has had the opportunity."

A recent raise in meter fares isn't helping local businesses, some owners have opined, and their shops have taken the hit. But Kluewer noted that the increase was a negligible one. "The parking meter increase from 50¢ per hour to 60¢ was the first increase in eight years," he explained. "A penny a minute is not an exorbitant price."

He added that the meter hike helps the village as a whole. "The $190,000 expected to be raised by this increase is important to the village," Kluewer said.

The village's largest shopper-only parking field, Lot No. 1, located between Sunrise Highway, Merrick Road, and Park and Morris avenues, has around 240 parking spots. The lot is lined with 45 businesses, and is in close proximity to upwards of 100 more. With a number of popular sit-down restaurants such as Jani and Grillfire lining the lot, Post said restaurant employees are taking customer spots.

"There is a lot of abuse mostly coming from the restaurants," Post said. "They have five or six waiters and that's where they park. They feed the meters and that's a big problem. We've discussed it with the restaurateurs, but nobody seems to want to do anything."

Several managers of restaurants in the area — who asked that they remain anonymous —  acknowledged that this happens, but argue that their employees have no choice. Kluewer noted that's illegal.

"If they 'feed the meters' all day, they are parking illegally in spots reserved for other uses," he said. 

The idea of a tier parking garage to add more spots has been raised by village officials and business owners in the past, but Post said he'll believe it when he sees it.

"The village has been talking about a double tier since I've been active in the chamber," he said. "They do surveys, spend a lot of money. They spoke about making parking lot one a partial tier on one side, maybe the train station a partial tier, but nothing ever gets done."