By Bill Slocum
Contributing Editor
Town Planner Katie DeLuca said a survey conducted for her department regarding parking on Greenwich Avenue is nearly complete, and documents the extent to which existing parking shortages are caused by store employees.
DeLuca explained the analysis is part of an effort to get a better handle on Greenwich’s parking issues townwide. Last summer, similarly comprehensive analyses were conducted of retail areas in Byram, Cos Cob, Glenville, and Old Greenwich.
“What we’re all feeling is it is a management of parking issue, as opposed to building something to deal with it,” DeLuca noted.
The survey is in the process of being finalized. It is largely the work of two graduate students studying town planning, Stephen Meno of Tufts University and Adam Pisarkiewicz at SUNY Buffalo. They took up the daunting chore of interviewing every merchant and business owner on Greenwich Avenue regarding how parking is being used, and not used, near their establishment.
The survey was prompted by a forum DeLuca conducted with Greenwich Avenue merchants and the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce last September, in which the issue of employees parking in spaces meant for customer traffic was raised as a key concern. DeLuca said early indications from the Meno-Pisarkiewich research bear this out.
“The big takeaway here is that employees and customers are competing for the same parking spaces, which in turn creates issues ranging from perception to daily
functionality,” DeLuca said. “All in all, the data provides a basis and context to move forward with potential initiatives that help address these issues.”
Parking by employees along Greenwich Avenue clogs up the street in two ways, first by denying those short-term spaces to customers for whom they are meant, and second by slowing down traffic flow as drivers idle along the Avenue waiting for a space to become open.
“The biggest problem is merchants and employees feeding the meter,” said town Director of Parking Services Rita Azrelyant. “As creatures of habit, people want to park in front of the stores where they work. A lot of parking lots of being monopolized by one or two businesses. We are working to clear that up.”
Azrelyant noted the survey being conducted by DeLuca’s department will help get a handle on the problem. Azrelyant added that there are ways beyond stronger enforcement to improve the situation.
“Right now we are trying to modernize the parking lots, the lots surrounding Greenwich Avenue,” she said. “Once we do that, we will look at Greenwich Avenue, and see if we can make it easier to pay for parking.”
One idea Azrelyant wants to examine is automating parking lots around Greenwich Avenue, as other lots in town such as the Island Beach lot have been. But getting automation to pay for itself has been a challenge. Automated lots are either underutilized or people park there without buying time. She also noted that automated pay stations, which tend to be bulky and hard-to-miss by design, might not work aesthetically on and along Greenwich Avenue.
One option Azrelyant sees as worth pursuing is the development of a mobile app to inform people exactly where parking is along Greenwich Avenue, which she said is not as constantly clogged as some may think.
“Some of the parking lots are not being used all the time,” she said. “What’s great about automation is we can track user peak and vacancies.”
Marcia O’Kane, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, said her membership is eagerly looking forward to the survey “to inform us as to which direction the town has to go.” She said she is also pleased by Azrelyant’s technology-based approach.
“We look forward to hearing solutions that are high-tech,” O’Kane said. “Certainly a sophisticated town like ours deserves unique, cutting-edge answers.
