Letters

Paid parking has its place, I suppose, when it comes to seeking revenue for infrastructure improvements like sidewalk repair, but Sag Harbor Village is going way, way too far with this seemingly handy solution to monetary problems [“Sag Harbor Village Board Hears Complaints About Paid Parking,” 27east.com, October 9].

Seeing the “Paid Parking” signs pop up behind Schiavoni’s IGA and at the “gas ball lot” is really so painfully out of character for us, and watching the creep of this solution take over the whole village, with annoying signage and extra steps to make a simple trip to run errands and have fun in the village (and, I would submit, even the extra step of having to get a residency sticker, not to mention the anticipated fight to argue for residents of North Haven, Noyac, and, frankly, anyone else who wants to use Sag Harbor’s shops and restaurants getting one) — it’s all just too much.

This is the kind of gentrification creep that we’ve watched in East Hampton (forgive me, East Hampton, but it’s part of the problem), grasping for money from everyone while having the craziest real estate prices around. It’s the way character erodes and we become just like everyone else.

I implore the powers that be (Mayor Tom Gardella and the Village Board, especially Trustee Aidan Corish) to regain your senses and use another form of fundraising besides this awful method. It’s not welcoming and implies that we’re ready to suck money out of every person who enters the village, resident stickers or not.

There have to be other solutions, like floating a bond for general infrastructure repair.

April Gornik

Sag Harbor