Village Extends Moratorium on Parking Fund

The Lynbrook village board announced that it will be extending the moratorium on the village parking fund for one more year.

"Times have changed, the economy has changed, and we're trying to develop the area to have good development … so a year ago, we put a moratorium on paying the money," said Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick. "We think times are still slow so we extended it a year — try to allow some additional development that wouldn't be subject to the parking fund."

This will be the second year in a row that a moratorium will be in place. Hendrick said the suspension of payments will not impact the village budget.

About a year and a half ago, the village board authorized the creation of a parking fund for businesses looking to open or expand in Lynbrook, but did not have enough property to create the number of parking spaces required by the village. Instead, the village allowed such businesses to pay a fee to the village for each space it did not have. A variance from the Building Department is also required.

Villlge officials plan to use the money collected from the parking fund for the expansion of the village's municipal lots in the future.  

Bill Gaylor, president of the Lynbrook Chamber of Commerce, said he supports the board's decision to extend the moratorium.

"My answer is that the Chamber of Commerce is in favor of extending the moratorium and also in favor of having it permanently repealed," Gaylor said. "We believe it does not do anything to encourage business development in the village."