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Board reviews parking changes for Park Avenue, Church Street and sets approach for EV‑charger rules and fee schedule
Summary
Trustees discussed codifying temporary Park Avenue parking restrictions, a 100‑foot no‑parking zone on Church Street extension, and drafting rule language for EV charging spaces that would combine time limits and a fee schedule for overnight/extended charging.
The Village of Red Hook Board of Trustees spent extended discussion time on March 10 on proposed changes to Chapter 190 (vehicle and traffic) of the village code to formalize temporary parking restrictions and to clarify rules for electric vehicle (EV) charging spaces in the municipal lot.
Trustees asked the attorney to draft a local law that would: make the temporary Park Avenue restrictions permanent (no parking on the north side from Linden Avenue to the old post office and a 70‑foot no‑park area on the south side near a driveway), create a 100‑foot no‑parking buffer on both sides of Church Street extension from London Avenue to improve intersection sight lines, and explicitly define the EV charging spaces' use and enforcement.
On EV charging, trustees agreed on a working approach: during daytime business hours (8 a.m.–5 p.m.), EV spaces will be limited to four hours or until the vehicle is fully charged, whichever is less, to encourage turnover for shoppers and diners. Outside regular business hours, the board directed staff to reference a fee schedule that would impose charging fees and/or parking charges to discourage extended overnight occupancy; trustees discussed setting a zero fee during business hours and tiers of fees after the four‑hour limit. Trustee discussion noted the existing ChargePoint software provides user notifications when fees change and can signal when a vehicle is plugged in but finished charging.
Trustees also discussed enforcement mechanisms. The village can access station use data (account-based notifications and plug/disconnect alerts) and already issued tickets when vehicles overstayed. Board members favored a combination of a fee schedule for electricity/extended time and continued parking enforcement (tickets) for long overstays. Several trustees asked the clerk and village attorney whether the fee should be set by resolution rather than written into the code; the clerk said a fee schedule adopted by resolution would be easier to update.
The mayor said she will ask the village attorney for drafting language that references a fee schedule and clarifies enforcement, then return the draft local law to the board. Trustees also requested a simple map to illustrate new parking lines and no‑parking zones; the clerk said a small map of Park Avenue and Church Street extension would be simple to prepare, while a village‑wide interactive map would be a larger project.
Board members raised additional parking-clarity measures such as yellow curbing or hatched markings near crosswalks and the intersection to improve pedestrian sight lines and compliance.
