Northport Village Parking Fines To Increase

Northport Village trustees passed a resolution on Aug. 22, approving a new parking violation schedule with increased fees. Long Islander News photo/Janee Law

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

Northport Village trustees have approved a new parking violation schedule with increased fines that will go into effect this October.

The board voted 4-0 on Aug. 22 in favor of the new schedule. Trustee Ian Milligan was not present.

Trustee Jerry Maline said Wednesday this is the first parking fine increase in over 20 years. He added that new fine schedule is the result of both inflation and a board initiative to increase parking turnover in the village.

There are a total of 17 violations on the schedule, and 14 of them will soon come with a heftier fine — the increases range $5-$180 from the previous amount.

The biggest increases come for handicapped spot violations from $100 to $280; and fire hydrant violations from $25 to $100.

“Those fines were just obsolete; they were so low,” Maline said. “No one should be parking in handicapped unless you’re really handicapped and parking in front of a fire hydrant could cost someone their life if the fire truck has a problem.

“That’s something we definitely want to discourage, and you want the fine high so that people would never consider going in those spots.”

Parking meter violations remain at $20, and fire zone violations remain at $100.

The fine increases come after a push by Northport Village trustees to address parking concerns. The board has already voted to increase enforcement of two-hour parking limit; create an amnesty program for unpaid parking violations issued from January 2010-January 2017; and establish temporary downtown parking regulations meant to increase parking turnover.

The new parking violation schedule will go into effect Oct. 16, officials said.