State Awards $1.7M Toward Parking Garage

A bird’s-eye view of the municipal parking lot between New and Green streets in Huntington village, where the town is considering building a parking structure.

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

The Town of Huntington received a state grant earlier this month that will be used toward construction of a Huntington village parking structure.

The Town of Huntington Local Development Corporation was awarded a $1.7 million grant on Dec. 13 for the structure, which is being considered for the municipal parking lot between New and Green streets.

In July, the Huntington Town Board gave Old Bethpage-based Level G Associates approval to conduct the second phase of a feasibility study to determine how to pay for the 528-space, four-level parking structure.

That study is almost complete, according to town spokesman A.J. Carter.

“Level G is putting the final touches on their second report which has not yet been presented to the board,” Carter said. “The parking committee has met with Level G, and the company has concluded that a parking garage is economically viable.”

Carter said the parking committee, which is comprised of a combination of town staff and business leaders from in and around the Huntington Village Business District, held “exploratory meetings” to judge interest in the parking garage proposal. The feedback was positive, he said.

“The next step would probably be a request for the proposal for the design, but we are not quite there yet,” Carter said.

The garage would be a fully-public structure, according to Carter; the town has backed away from a previous proposal to construct the garage using a public-private partnership.

Carter said the proposed parking garage is something for the incoming town board to address in a timely fashion, and recently appointed town Councilwoman Joan Cergol agreed.

“Huntington village merchant leaders have been calling out the need for additional parking for many years now,” Cergol said. “Given the $1.7 million award from the state and the momentum created by the Supervisor’s Office with the parking committee I am certain we will be delving into the subject sooner rather than later.”