LAKEFRONT PROPRIETORS OBJECT, SAYING…
Village Parking Restrictions
Disadvantage Private Docks
By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – Parking regulations adopted by the Village Board last month put private docks at a competitive disadvantage to the public docks.
Alex Zoeller, a member of the family that owns docks at the foot of Fair Street, raised that contention at this evening’s Village Board meeting, objecting to a trustees’ decision last month allowing all-day parking on Fish Road, but reserving it for the cars of people who have their boats inspected before they launch.
The trustees didn’t respond to Zoeller’s inputs.
Due to the new regulations, boaters leasing the private slips this summer will, for the first time, be limited to two-hour on-street parking; thus, they would have to dock every two hours and move their cars. Or, Zoeller said, they must park in one of the village’s distant lots and take the trolley to the lakefront.
Some of the private customers have been leasing slips for decades from the Zoeller-Wickoff family, which also owns the Lakefront Hotel, the Lakefront Restaurant and the Glimmerglass Queen.
One of those customers, Pat McBrearty of Hartwick, raised a a similar concern at the trustees’ February meeting, predicting there would be an outcry. “Maybe they aren’t aware of it yet,” said Zoeller, predicting an outcry yet to come.
The new regulations, to be in effect between Memorial Day and Columbus Day, require boat owners leasing from the village to get a permit from the dockmaster to put on their dash boards, and thus may park all-day on Fish Road, between the Lakefront Hotel and Lakefront Park. But boat owners renting the adjacent private slips cannot.
A couple of months ago, the Village Board had already tightened the parking supply on Fish Road by designating some of the spots as all-day parking exclusively for village employees.
Zoeller also expressed fears that waitresses, some of them carrying money, will have to walk back to the distant lots in the dark after closing, because the trolleys are no longer running. Given the existence of heroin in the village and general nighttime summertime revelry, those waitresses may find themselves at risk, he said. He wonders if the village is putting itself at liability if one of them were to get raped or mugged.
Other waitresses will have to walk to work in the morning from the distant lots, because the trolleys aren’t running yet, he said.
I wonder why a business owner would think the village had the responsibility to continue providing parking for them? The Lakefront hotel has its own parking. They could create more parking for their business by removing the outdoor eating space which they added several years ago.
I think it unfair that the village has made this suggestion. The Lake Front pays over the top taxes and has for generations. Maybe the village should realize their contribution before making a final decision. Let’s work together on this.
Karen Johannesen
Village parking regulations are ridiculous. Roads aren’t great either.. what is the money going to?
Strangely, while rejecting the issue of restaurant employees’ safety and access, the Village designates Fish Road parking for Village employees – only a1 1/2 blocks distant and working regular day hours. Accompanied with other Fair Street parking limitations, the actions are clearly intended as specific punitive actions against the Lakefront Hotel and restaurant. Might be a good idea to check for competing business interests of the Village Mayor and Board!