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“There’s a tremendous negative impact on the businesses on that side of the town, which we call secondary Main Street,” Robert Dean, a landlord and business owner on Bedford Road, said at a Town Board meeting in late October.
Under a proposed law, parking would be restricted at all times on the south side of Bedford Road from Maple Avenue to the dead end, and restricted on the north side from Maple Avenue to MacDonald Avenue.
The proposed law was originally discussed at the Town Board's meeting Oct. 24. The public hearing was kept open, and the issue was scheduled to be discussed again on Nov. 7. However, because of Hurricane Sandy, the board postponed the hearing, and as of Friday had not yet determined a date to revisit it.
Members of the Town Board say that the law is being considered after a study by Town Planner Adam Kaufman and police Lt. Peter Simonsen determined that the road was too narrow to accommodate parking. The road’s intersection with MacDonald Avenue is particularly a point of concern, as buses from the H.C. Crittenden Middle School must navigate the road in between the parked cars.
Armonk resident Roderick Green previously spoke in favor of restricting the on-street parking.
“I don’t even see how you could even consider allowing parking on that road,” said Green, who lives on Bedford Road. “It’s a two-lane road, and the cars that are parked there are actually on the road, not on the side of the road.”
Dean said that if parking was restricted at all times, it would drastically affect the patrons who visit his business and others on Bedford Road. Currently there is no law that restricts on-street parking.
Town Board member Michael Schiliro suggested that the board consider a hybrid law that could benefit all the parties, such as restricting parking only on a portion of the road or during certain hours.
“Maybe there’s a solution where we can fix the problem while not being totally restrictive,” Schiliro said.
The Town Board's next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 28 at Town Hall in Armonk.
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