PLATTSBURGH — In keeping with tradition, City and Town of Plattsburgh residents will not be charged to park at the Plattsburgh City Beach when it opens for the season May 26.
The City Common Council and Mayor Chris Rosenquest had previously mulled over the idea of charging City and Town residents parking fees because the Falcon Seaboard Agreement — a 30-year agreement that gave Town residents free access — was set to expire in December of 2022.
“Last year, we considered the idea of adding parking fees for all beach users including City and Town residents,” Rosenquest said.
“Historically, City and Town of Plattsburgh residents haven’t paid a parking fee for beach entry. At this time, we feel the right thing to do is continue free entry for all residents of the Greater Plattsburgh region.”
PARKING PERMITS
Paid parking enforcement will now be in effect during beach hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.
To park for free, City and Town residents will need to obtain a parking permit from the City’s online permit portal system here: https://plattsburgh.thepermitportal.com/. A maximum of two free parking permits will be issued per household, with permits being made available online starting May 16.
Residents of the two municipalities will have to provide proof of residency with either a signed lease in the applicant’s name for an address within either the City or the Town; or a utility bill in the applicant’s name dated within the last three months at an address within either the City or the Town.
Nonresidents can also obtain a seasonal beach permit via the same online permit portal for $60 or pay a flat daily fee for $12 at one of the beach’s four parking kiosks or on the ParkMobile app using zone #72007.
OTHER CHANGES
An hourly parking rate had been proposed last year but wasn’t adopted, Rosenquest said.
Additionally, physical parking passes will no longer be available to display in car windows like they were in previous years.
The City’s parking enforcement officers will instead use license plates to validate that a permit has been issued for that vehicle or that the daily fee has been paid.
At the April 20th Common Council meeting, Rosenquest said the use of digital permits, even with a $3 administration fee charged to the city, would be less expensive for them.
“The purchase of physical passes and the distribution of those passes, would cost as much if not more, than doing it digitally with the … permit system that we currently have now,” he said.
“Each permit that is created on the digital system costs $3, period. No matter who creates that permit for that vehicle, it’s a charge for the city. Normally, that would be an offset charge that we would pass on to … the paying user. Rather than passing that $3 charge on to the city resident who wants a free beach pass, the city is going to eat that cost and it is going to be the same amount, again, if not less, than what we would normally be paying for a physical pass, plus the cost of administering that physical pass.”
SAVING ABOUT $1,500
Councilor Elizabeth Gibbs (D-Ward 3) had questioned if this would incur a significant loss of revenue to the city.
Community Development Director Matt Miller clarified that between paying for the physical passes and the time it takes the city enforcement officers to walk around the vehicles checking for a pass, they will be saving both time and money by using digital passes.
“Just by the numbers I ran, we will spend about $1,500 less a year,” he said.
“With the online system, everything’s right on the handheld, they just punch in their license plate and it pops up and saves a lot of time.”
Despite ongoing demolition of the Crete Memorial Civic Center, free parking will also still be available at the Crete’s parking lot, Rosenquest said.
It’s anticipated that the main structure will be brought down prior to the beach’s opening on Memorial Day weekend. Removal of debris and final restoration of the site will overlap with the beach season and is expected to be completed by the end of June.