Allan Appel Photo
Thomas MacMillan Photo
For the first time in recent memory, New Haveners driving into Lighthouse Park this summer may have to pay for the privilege. If Jeanette Morrison gets her way, the entrance fee will be less than it otherwise might have.
The mayor’s proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 calls for the introduction of a $20 seasonal parking fee for New Haven cars entering Lighthouse Point Park. Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts said the fee is needed to pay for staffing at the park.
In past years, Lighthouse Point Park parking passes have been free for New Haveners. The city tried to implement a fee last year; the Board of Aldermen blocked it.
This year, the board hasn’t yet moved against the proposed fee. But Morrison (pictured), a Dixwell alderwoman, proposes to reduce the charge, but not eliminate it.
She proposes setting the seasonal fee at $10 with a one-day parking pass available for $5. Cars belonging to seniors over the age of 62 would be free. For out-of-town cars, the fees would remain at $100 for the season or $20 per day.
Parking fees are charged from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Smuts said the money would help cover the cost of managing the park, including staffing the gate and paying parking flaggers on the busiest days.
Smuts said a daily fee was meant to be included in the budget also but was omitted due to a “scrivener’s error.” He said he couldn’t recall what the proposed daily fee was.
Smuts said Morrison’s proposal is agreeable to City Hall.
Morrison introduced her ordinance amendment at last Monday’s Board of Aldermen meeting. The Finance Committee will take up the proposal at a future meeting, probably after it finishes deliberating on the proposed budget, Morrison said.
The fee reduction would not have an impact on the budget’s revenue numbers because the amount projected to come in from the parking fees at the park was already fairly small, Smuts and Morrison said.
“I’m thinking about the single parent with children who needs to get their kids out and run off some energy,” Morrison said. That parent might not be able to afford the $20 fee.
“I can borrow five dollars,” Morrison said. “I can’t borrow twenty dollars.”
“I’m really focusing on the residents, because we’ve got to give them something,” she said. “I really want to see this happen for this year. I’ve got different constituents calling me and saying, ‘What’s going on with these fees?’
“I just want to give all residents the ability to get out and be by the beach and allow kids to run around. The big piece is with the seniors.”
Many senior citizens are on fixed incomes, she said. “This is the least we can do for them.”
Morris Cover Alderman Sal DeCola, whose ward includes Lighthouse Point Park, welcomed the free-for-seniors aspect of the plan. He said he thinks a $10 fee for other New Haveners for the year is reasonable.
“It’s a vehicle tax,” he said. The park is still “technically free.” That is, it’s free for people who walk, bike, or ride the bus, he said.
It costs more for the park to accommodate cars, DeCola said. “You have to have an area to park them and you have to watch them.” And there are “environmental issues that come with vehicles,” like oil leaks, he said.
Maybe the fees will encourage people to take the bus, DeCola said. He acknowledged that it might also encourage people to park outside the park and walk in, which has been a neighborhood nuisance in the past.
$10 is too low to maintain all that parking infrastructure. The fee should be set at market demand. The fee could be lower in the morning, and rise as the lots begin to fill up.
If you want to avoid the fee, it is easy to park elsewhere and walk, or to hop on the bus or bike to the park from anywhere in the city. The city can ticket vehicles that park illegally and create some residential parking zones on the smaller side streets if this becomes an issue.