Demand for Parking and Limited Inventory Challenge Bronxville Officials
Written by Carol P. Bartold
Oct. 15, 2014: In a small village with limited parking, where every available parking place is a prime spot no matter its location or time restriction, the management of parking inventory and circulation become key issues in the quality of life and the vibrancy of the downtown business district.
Bronxville Deputy Treasurer Peggy Conway works to balance parking needs with parking realities in recognizing the various demands of several constituencies and assigning available parking inventory to best serve them.
A commuter train station located in the downtown business district compounds the conflict between long-term and short-term parking considerations, Conway noted.
Circulation and turnover promote the optimum situation for downtown merchants, Conway said, and two-hour meters allow the most shoppers and diners to park. "We need a system in place to enforce turnover in the business district," she said, "or people will park all day long."
She pointed out that the village provides adequate long-term parking for business owners in the reconfigured Garden Avenue lot, including those merchants displaced by the Kensington Road lot closure, which helps keep prime spots on Pondfield Road, Kraft Avenue, and Park Place open for patrons.
"We want people to shop in Bronxville," Conway said, "and for merchants, residents, and commuters we have long-term parking arrangements for them to be off the main street and leave those downtown spaces for shoppers."
Conway noted that arrangements to accommodate residents displaced by the closure of the Kensington Road lot are working out very well because of the home rule legislation the village obtained that allows 24-hour street parking in designated areas. "There are definitely enough spaces for everyone," she said, while acknowledging that some residents might need to park a distance from their homes.
Although safety considerations on Prescott Avenue near Merestone Terrace led the village to rescind four 24-hour parking spaces and reassign them as two-hour spaces, Conway said there is still enough parking for displaced Kensington Road/Sagamore Road-area residents.
According to Conway, the Kensington Road construction management plan allows for the retention of long-term parking along the west side of the street during construction barring any safety considerations.
The village is experiencing increased pressure on its limited parking inventory, especially on Palumbo Place, since the City of Mount Vernon recently reassigned long-term parking on Gramatan Avenue as two-hour parking. "Even another municipality's parking spaces are connected with ours and our way of life," Conway said. Those spaces had previously served overflow from the Bronxville Public Library and The Reformed Church and its outreach program and nursery school.
With parking limited and in constant demand, Conway explained, ticketing helps manage the supply of parking inventory and is a tool that almost every municipality uses for that purpose. She emphasized that revenue generation from parking tickets helps the village budget but is not the driving force behind the issuance of parking tickets. "Tickets help change behavior and educate people about the nature of parking inventory," Conway said, and added that the village is not trying to increase ticketing as a source of revenue.
Bronxville's one full-time and several part-time parking enforcement officers are given routes and instructed to follow them. "They really are to keep moving along," Conway stated. "They write tickets to free up spaces for the next person coming in."
She added that enforcement officers are not to wait around for a meter with only a few minutes remaining to expire and are not to double back to issue a ticket for a meter they previously noticed was close to expiration.
In looking to the future, Conway said, underground capabilities to support multi-space metering were installed as part of the Garden Avenue lot reconfiguration. Village officials are also evaluating a pay-by-phone system and a cell phone app that would work with any type of meter or even without a meter and not require any infrastructure costs.
Pictured here: Peggy Conway, deputy treasurer of Bronxville.
Photo by A. Warner
Government & History Directory
Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.
While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.
Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.
The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.
Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours
Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400
Government & History Recent Articles
Quick Links
Newsletter
MyhometownBroxnville reserves the right to monitor and remove all comments. For more information on Posting Rules, please review our Rules and Terms of Use, both of which govern the use and access of this site. Thank you.
The information presented here is for informational purposes only. While every effort has been made to present accurate information, myhometownBronxville, LLC, does not in any way accept responsibility for the accuracy of or consequences from the use of this information herein. We urge all users to independently confirm any information provided herein and consult with an appropriate professional concerning any material issue of fact or law. The views and opinions expressed by the writers, event organizers and advertisers do not necessarily represent those of myhometownBronxville, LLC, its officers, staff or contributors. The use of this website is governed by the Terms of Use . No portion of this publication may be reproduced or redistributed, either in whole or part, without the express written consent of the publisher.
Copyright © 2009 myhometownbronxville.com, All rights reserved.