Metered Parking Coming To Farmingdale Village: What You Need To Know

FARMINGDALE, NY — Metered parking is coming to Farmingdale Village's downtown.

Starting soon after Labor Day, it will cost 50 cents per hour to park downtown between 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. from Mondays through Saturdays for non-village residents. Parking will remain free on Sundays.

"The need for meters is basically due to the terrific growth and popularity of our downtown, which has led to the costs of managing and maintaining it increasing considerably," Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said in a statement.

Residents can get stickers exempting them from meter use, while employees of downtown businesses can pay $50 per year for a sticker, according to the village. The village is installing 20 new meters across six municipal parking lots and Main Street.

Motorists can enter parking space numbers into a meter or the smartphone app, paybyphone.

"We've become a destination village, and it's great to see that," Brian Harty, village administrator and treasurer, told Patch. "We want people to come here, enjoy themselves and have a great time. Hopefully by paying a small parking fee with the ease of an app or a meter, they'll be able to enjoy the experience they've had in the past."

Infrastructure improvements that cost millions of dollars are ongoing or planned, Ekstrand said. While grants are used to support improvements and project funding, village residents also pay taxes toward projects.

Farmingdale Village spent $8 million on parking lot improvements, including signage, drainage, irrigation, plantings, beautification and lighting, Ekstrand said. The land across from 7-Eleven was also purchased for a new parking lot, while a pass was created to open space between Whiskey Down Diner and Mike's Barber Shop.

The village wants to maintain the level of quality of its parking facilities and downtown, Harty said.

"Rather than put the burden on the taxpayer, we'll ask people to pay a small user fee when they come into town," Harty said. "We're going to dedicate those funds to continued parking rehabilitation and parking cleanliness and parking management."

Harty said it's fair that visitors who enjoy what Farmingdale's downtown has to offer contribute to its upkeep, along with village taxpayers.

"Hopefully people still keep coming to Farmingdale," he said. "We've had great success here. We have great places to go and great places to experience. I think everybody who comes here really has a good time. We're looking forward to that continuing."

Farmingdale hosts several major events each year, like the Columbus Day Weekend Fair, Spring Fair, Music on Main events, parades, the school district’s hosting of the Special Olympics, Art in the Park, movie nights, pops concerts, the NYE Ball Drop, a car show and others, Ekstrand said.

The events require planning, promotion, insurance, security, set-up and break-down labor, and temporary signage, according to the mayor. Safe, clean, well-lit and dry parking lots, along with beautified streets, costs money, he said.

"Until now, village residents and village businesses have paid for most of this expense through their property taxes," Ekstrand said. "This is unsustainable and we are asking that the non-residents understand that we have to share the cost with the other people who also enjoy Farmingdale's downtown. The same thing has been happening in villages and densely populated areas everywhere for decades."

The village is currently burying its electrical wires, adding new lighting to both sides of the street, and widening Main Street downtown.

"We look forward to keeping the downtown safe, well maintained, with improvements and more!" Ekstrand said.