Clears way for residential permits, meters
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sept. 15 signed legislation that clears the way for Cold Spring to add 20 streets to a residential parking permit system and to install meters on Main Street.
Sponsored by Cold Spring’s state representatives — Assembly Member Dana Levenberg, a Democrat, and Sen. Rob Rolison, a Republican — the bill adds Main Street from the Metro-North tracks to Parsonage Street; Benedict Road; Fishkill Avenue; and Grandview Terrace to the list of streets where Cold Spring can introduce permit parking for residents.
It also adds Locust Ridge, Maple Terrace and Whitehall Place; Marion, Mountain and Paulding avenues; Academy, B, Cherry, and East and West Belvedere streets; and Hamilton, Orchard, Parrott, Parsonage and Pine streets.
The bill passed the state Senate, 61-0, and the Assembly, 137-3, but could not be implemented without Hochul’s signature. Village Accountant Michelle Ascolillo said last week that a projected $43,000 revenue shortfall is partly due to revenue lost as the village waited for the bill to be enacted.
Some of that revenue will come from meters, which could not be installed until Hochul took action, said Mayor Kathleen Foley during the Village Board’s meeting on Sept. 13. “We want to make sure residents have a place to park once the meters go in,” she said. “We anticipate the meters will drive [visitors] to side streets.”
Eliza Starbuck, the trustee leading the implementation of the meters and permits, said in June that the new streets will not be among the first designated for residential parking but are “part of a long-term plan to monitor and expand resident permit parking protections throughout the village as needed.”
Cold Spring had already received state approval to create permit parking on Main, New, West, Fish and Market streets; Northern and Railroad avenues; Kemble Avenue from Main Street to Wall Street; and Church, Cross, Furnace, Garden, Haldane, High, Rock, and Stone streets.
Before creating permit parking on those streets, the village needs to update two sections of its code — Traffic & Vehicles and Resident Parking Program — and hold a public hearing before the Village Board votes on the changes, said Starbuck. The board plans to set a public hearing when it meets on Wednesday (Sept. 27).
If the plan is approved, the village would have its roadways and facilities crew install parking-meter kiosks and signage, launch a public-information campaign and begin taking applications from residents who live in the first streets designated for permits.
Cold Spring’s Police Department, which has hired one parking-enforcement officer and plans to add another, will train employees to use handheld plate readers and ticket printers, said Starbuck.
During a meeting in January, the Village Board predicted that the introduction of meters would increase revenue substantially. It also proposed making Fair Street one-way on weekends, with metered parking on Saturdays. The tradition of free Sunday parking for churchgoers will continue.
The board also said in January that it will inquire about adding meters on Main Street east of the traffic light (a state road which would require a special permit) and lower Main Street.
On Sept. 15, Hochul also signed legislation that amends the residency requirement for Cold Spring’s clerk/treasurer and deputy clerk positions. Sponsored by Levenberg and Rolison, the law allows candidates to live outside the village, as long as they still reside in Putnam or an adjoining county.
The legislation “is necessary to ensure that the Village of Cold Spring can draw from a pool of the most qualified individuals,” according to a memo explaining the bill. It passed the Assembly, 147-0, and the Senate, 62-0.
