In her letter to the editor last week, Village Trustee Eileen Collins, chairman of the Village Traffic Commission, addressed the latest attempts to resolve the parking problems of Field 7S behind the stores and businesses on the south side of Seventh Street. The attempt to determine a combination of parking time limits that would best serve the diverse types of the area's stores and businesses - while providing adequate parking for patrons, has spanned 30-odd years. The files of the chamber, the Departments of Public Works and Police record such efforts. To further inform the residential community, we share the following article appearing in the February issue of the Chamber of Commerce Business Bulletin:

"For shops and businesses on the south side of Seventh Street served by municipal parking field 7S, the age-old problems prevail! An estimated 30 to 40 cars belonging to employers and their employees park daily in spots that in their own best interest - could and should be kept free for their patrons. Where the working force should park, is in the unrestricted areas of fields 7N (north side of Seventh Street) or the 6E and "WYE" lots (east side of Franklin Avenue).

The Chamber has worked diligently with the Village Traffic Commission and with many complying businesses on Seventh Street South for some 30 years to accommodate the area's collective needs - recognizing that needs vary with business types. Also recognized, the need to be responsive to patrons who complain to the Chamber and to the Village, about the lack of parking spaces - especially during the lunch hour.

Over the years, time limits have been adjusted and readjusted. In addition to the numerous meetings of area businesses and shop owners that have been held, several surveys have also been conducted and several pilot programs implemented toward these continuing efforts to resolve the "7S dilemma."

As a result of the survey made by CBA administrators, a pilot program which changed the middle row of 7S between Franklin Avenue and The Food Basket from three hours to one hour, was implemented over the 1997 Holiday Season. But due to adverse impact reporter by various types of businesses, an additional survey was conducted by the Garden City Police Department. As a result, a new pilot project has changed all of the parking restrictions in the middle row to two-hour parking. As it stands now, field 7S has one entire row from Franklin to Hilton Avenue as one-hour, one row of two-hour; and one row of three-hour parking. The result of the test period for this current pilot project will be evaluated at the March Village Traffic Commission meeting.

While the Traffic Commission has requested input from the Chamber and CBA administrators at its March meeting, the best solutions for the problem of field 7S are acknowledged by all to be twofold: the working force must park in the unrestricted areas of the 7N and 6E (WYE) fields; and strict enforcement of time limits must be on-going. The results of the upcoming evaluation of the current pilot will be reported in the April Bulletin.

(Special thanks are due to two past Chamber Presidents: Jim Costello (Paine Webber), who has served as chairman of the Chamber Traffic Committee for the past 20 years; and Peter O'Neill (Reliance Federal Savings Bank, (formerly Continental Bank), whose efforts to solve the problems of field 7S have spanned many years.)

The Chamber intends to continue to work cooperatively with the village traffic commission, as well as the CBA administrators, to devise some sort of incentive program (as suggested by Trustee Judi Asselta) to encourage the Seventh Street working force to free up spaces for customers by parking in unrestricted areas of fields 7N and 6E/WYE.