An Old Bethpage-based consulting firm will head up a $15,000 Mineola Village Board-commissioned parking study that should be complete in mid-2016. Level G Associates will conduct the village-wide plan in tandem with village officials. Level G did not return calls for comment.
“We had a preliminary meeting with [Level G],” Mayor Scott Strauss said. “They have a lot of data to collect from us; all the different parking regulations we have. They have to digest that and do parking counts. We may have inclement weather coming up so they’ll probably hold off on parking counts until March.”
According to the proposal obtained by the Mineola American, Level G will log municipal parking inventory, village fees, parking restrictions and regulations throughout the village. The analysis will encompass on-and off-street parking in residential areas, as well as existing and anticipated parking patterns and conditions in Mineola.
“Communities with the characteristics [of Mineola] are often faced with parking challenges due to expanding or evolving parking demand and the diverse number of user groups competing for parking spaces,” Level G’s Gerard Giosa wrote in the proposal. “In our experience, parking supplies and/or regulations often require adjustment from time to time in response to changes or additions to land uses in the areas they serve.”
The study will encompass the downtown area, including rising and proposed apartment complexes near Old Country Road, Mineola Boulevard and Willis Avenue. Strauss said Level G will have access to Mineola’s Phillips Preiss Grygiel LLC downtown development study, which estimates 1,400 apartments could hit Mineola in the next few years.
“We want to be open and give [Level G] as much as they need,” Strauss said. “This is the first time a village is undertaking a parking study ever, that I’m aware of.”
Level G plans to “review and evaluate redevelopment proposals…to estimate their potential impact on downtown parking,” the proposal said. The parking firm will log parking patterns from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays leading up to next year.
“I hope this moves toward a standardization of parking within reason throughout the village,” Strauss said.
Study results could recommend changes in parking pricing, enforcement, parking space management, among other suggestions, the proposal said.
“I’m confident that they will provide us what we are looking for,” Strauss said. “Then it’s up to us to implement their suggestions or not. Nothing is binding.”
