The Village of Pelham board decided Oct. 11 to reduce the parking meter fines it had boosted in May, though they remain higher than they were before the original hike.

After a public hearing on the legislation, the board voted unanimously to set the fine for meter violations at $30 if paid within the first 24 hours ($40 if paid after that). It also set the price of overnight parking fines at $30 if paid within the first 24 hours ($60 if paid after that).

At the May 24 meeting, the trustees raised the fines for meter tickets from $25 to $50 (with payment within 24 hours set at $30 instead of the previous $15). It also raised the fine for overnight parking to $80 (with payment within 24 hours set at $40).

Members of the Pelham Chamber of Commerce attended the meeting to support the reduction during the hearing. The chamber has been lobbying for change since May.

The board also heard complaints and suggestions from more than 20 residents, including those living in the apartment building at 305 6th Ave., about the loss of their parking spaces due to the coming Jan. 1 demolition of parking lots 2 and 3.

Lot 2 is coming down because it is structurally unsound, while the land lot 3 is on is required for the new municipal center, which officials broke ground for last week.

The residents from the apartment building voiced fears about having to walk long distances from their cars late at night from lots 7 or 9 in the rain or in cold weather.

“Our parking transition is underway,” said Mayor Chance Mullen. “We are communicating directly with lot 2 and lot 3 parking permit holders right now. This month is dedicated to lot 2 and lot 3 permit holders getting access to the discount areas that we’ve established. We have lot 7 behind Rockwell’s and we have lot 9, which is a pre-existing lot which previously had 14 spots available in it. We expanded that to 53 spots. For what it’s worth, the reason we expanded that by 39 spots is because there are 39 permit holders at 305 6th Ave.”

Some of the residents said they did not understand why the board could not allow them to park on the street on Sixth Avenue, closer to their building.  

The village has “to get state approval to sell permits on the street,” said Mullen. The big fear of residents and business owners “is that people are going to be parked in front of their houses or at meters in front of their businesses. And so what we’ve been trying to do is thread a needle,” he said. “The village only owns so much land.”

At the end of the discussion, Mullen agreed to walk down Sixth Avenue and see if he could find any spots on the street to petition to the state to make available for parking permits. The building residents left the meeting visibly upset with what they heard during the public comment period.

Under a deal the village made with Pelham Green (formerly Pelham House), the developer is proposing to construct a five-story rental building at Fifth Avenue and Third Street (201 Fifth Ave.), as well as a new municipal center to house village hall and the village’s police and fire stations. The projects would, in part, use village-owned land, including lot 3, and the municipal center would be financed by the Pelham Green.