Category Archives: Business

Parking Fee Price Hike Threatened at Old Saybrook Railroad Station

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Railroad Parking Area sign

Railroad Parking Area sign

One hundred percent increase from $5 to $10 per day under consideration

The daily parking fee on the privately owned parking lot, which is closest to the tracks at the Old Saybrook railroad station, could increase in the near future.  The present parking fee of $5 a day could rise to $10 a day, according to Sebastian Lobo, the privately employed, parking attendant at the lot.

Lobo said that even with the increase, the cost for parking at Old Saybrook station would be far less than the amount charged at the New Haven railroad station.

However, a parking fee increase at one of the lots at the station would have no effect on the free-of-charge parking lots at the station, including, the Shore Line East Old Saybrook Commuter parking lot and the AMTRAK parking spaces at the station.  Nor would it affect the informal, free parking lot that extends along North Main Street from the Upper Cemetery almost all the way down to the tracks.

As for the 200 new parking spaces, which the state Department of Transportation plans to add at Old Saybrook rail station, it remains undecided as to whether there will be a parking fee or not for these spaces.

Paying to Park

The parking lot, where there is presently a $5 a day parking fee, is located right next to the relatively new, over the tracks terminal at the station.  For train passengers, it is clearly the most convenient place to park at the station.

These parking spaces are owned by Saybrook Realty Partners, whose address is 455 Boston Post Rd. in Old Saybrook, according to the collection envelopes put under the windshields of the cars parking there.

Collection envelopes can pile up under windshields

Collection envelopes can pile up under windshields

The border lines around the spaces owned by this group are white in color, and, generally, they are far from full.  This is likely because most people parking at the station have found free spaces at other areas of the station.

Empty parking spaces at the pay for parking area

Empty parking spaces at the pay for parking area

Pay to Park Collection Method

For those who pay for their parking at the station, there is a unique system of collecting parking fees.  First, parking attendant Lobo in his red car scoots around the lot, placing collection envelopes behind the windshields of the cars that are parked there.

Parking Attendant Lobo puts in place a collection envelope

Parking Attendant Lobo puts in place a collection envelope

These addressed envelopes instruct parkers to do three things: (1) put a $5 per day parking fee in the envelope, (2) place a stamp on the envelope, and (3) mail it.

The formal printed instructions on these envelopes read as follows:

$5.00 Daily Parking fee     

Please mail the $5.00 a day parking fee in this envelope. This parking lot is PRIVATE AND NO LONGER FREE. Amtrak travelers may park in the yellow lined designated area or pay the fee to park at will. Parking fees not paid within 14 days will be assessed an additional late fee of $10.00 per day.  YOUR LICENSE PLATE HAS BEEN NOTED Violators subject to tow at owner’s expense. For further information email parking@saybrookrealtypartners.com.

Plate Number _______________________________________________

Date _______________________________________________________

Enforcement Signs Threaten $150 Fine

Signs around this Railroad Parking Area, as it is called, threaten significant consequences if parking fees are not paid.  “Violators Will Be Towed” and a “$150 Fine” will be imposed the signs say around the parking lot.

In an effort to obtain further information about this pay for parking organization, who declined an interview, we posed by email the following questions to Saybrook Realty Partners:

1) How many $150 fines have you imposed on persons who park on your spaces at the Old Saybrook railroad station?

2) How many $150 fines have you collected since you inaugurated a payment for parking scheme at the station?

3) How many cars have you towed for non-payment of parking fees?

4) How successful, generally, has been your return envelope payment system?

Saybrook Realty Partners – Parking Lot Owner – Responds

David M. Adams, owner of Saybrook Realty Partners, which owns and manages Saybrook Junction, provided the following response, “The [Saybrook Realty  Partners’ parking] system has been very effective in preserving the integrity of the parking at Saybrook Junction for our 16 tenants. Saybrook Junction is a private business and has an obligation to provide parking for its business tenants and their customers, while also supporting Amtrak and overflow parking for Shoreline East commuters.  We continue to make progress to alleviate some of the parking concerns voiced by our tenants as well as commuters.”

A final article on the parking situation at the Old Saybrook railroad station will discuss the parking spaces that are controlled by the award-winning Pizza Works restaurant at the station. The restaurant has 38 reserved parking spaces close to the tracks.

200 New Parking Spaces to Be Added at the Old Saybrook Railroad Station

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The rear of the lots, where AMTRAK parking is located

The rear of the lots, where AMTRAK parking is located

Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna has confirmed in a recent interview that the Connecticut Department of Transportation, working with the Town of Old Saybrook, will soon formally announce a plan to add 200 new parking spaces at the railroad station in Old Saybrook.

The new parking spaces will require the purchase by the state Department of Transportation of 3.6 acres of private property, and negotiations for this purchase are presently underway. The new parking spaces will be situated on a site off  North Main Street, across the street from the Upper Cemetery.  The Upper Cemetery was established in 1750, and it is one of Old Saybrook’s historic landmarks.

Monies to acquire the 200 new parking spaces will come exclusively from the state, said the state’s Project Manager Keith Hall in a recent interview. There will be no federal funds involved in the purchase whatsoever, he emphasized.

Because of the good faith that has been shown in negotiating the sale of the property, Project Manager Hall also said that acquiring the property by eminent domain would not be necessary. Hall emphasized that to date there had been “fruitful discussions” with the property owners involved, and he anticipates that the final sale of the property would be consummated this coming April, if not before.

In discussing the planned acquisition of the new parking spaces, First Selectman Fortuna observed that the present parking situation at the Old Saybrook railroad station was “not ideal.”

The Present Parking Spaces at the Old Saybrook Station

The 200 new parking spaces at the station will add, substantially, to the number of parking spaces presently available at the station. One of the more informal of the existing parking lots at the station is the one that has a single string of parked cars running down North Main Street.

Cars parked beside the cemetery on North Main Street

Cars parked beside the cemetery on North Main Street

This ad hoc parking lot extends from next to the Upper Cemetery all the way down to the railroad tracks. During work days this informal “free” parking area is completely full.

Another significant parking area that also offers free parking is the Shore Line East, Old Saybrook, Commuter Parking lot.  This large lot has 137 parking spaces, with a few designated for handicap parking.

Colorful sign for Shore Line East Commuter Parking

Colorful sign for Shore Line East Commuter Parking

Although the Shore Line East parking lot is not directly beside the railroad station, it is still within easy walking distance of the trains. During work days the Shore Line East parking lot is frequently full.

AMTRAK Passenger Parking

In addition to these parking areas there are designated parking spaces for Amtrak passengers at the Old Saybrook railroad station. These Amtrak spaces are free, and they are indicated by painted yellow lines along their borders.

The Amtrak spaces are located just down from the Route 154 entrance to the railroad station property. This means that they are the furthest distance from where passengers get on and off their trains. Also, there are no designated parking spaces for handicapped Amtrak passengers, as there are in the Shore Line East Commuter Parking area.

Furthermore, the number of free-of-charge Amtrak parking spaces appears to be diminishing at the station.  Quite recently a number of Amtrak parking spaces were re-designated to be for the exclusive use of patients of a dermatologist with offices at the station. In the process Amtrak’s yellow boarders on these spaces have been painted over.

The considerable distance from the remaining Amtrak spaces to the train station can mean that a baggage-laden passenger, traveling on Amtrak, has further to walk to the train than any other passengers parking at the station.

One Hour Parking Spaces at the Station

Finally, there is another parking area that has at least a semblance of free parking. These are the spaces which are designated as offering just one hour of free parking, and no more. This means that if parkers decide to eat at Zhang’s Chinese Restaurant at the station, they better eat their shrimp chow mien with fried rice for lunch within an hour’s time.

However, it has to be said that this one hour limit does not appear to be strictly enforced by the private developer that owns much of the property around the railroad station.

Finally, it should be noted that the Old Saybrook railroad train station is in a unique category from among shoreline stations. This is because it serves both Shore Line East and Amtrak passengers. “It is not like the Guilford station that only serves Shore Line East passengers,” said DOT’s Project Manager Hall, when discussing the importance of the Old Saybrook railroad station. Of course it must also be sadly noted that Amtrak’s luxury train, the Acela, does not a stop at Old Saybrook. Rather, it insultingly barrels through the station at 80 or more miles an hour. Maybe it will stop for us someday.

Old Lyme Zoning Commission to Discuss Plans for Dunkin Donuts on Halls Rd.

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logoThe Old Lyme Zoning Commission meets at 7:30 p.m. this evening in Memorial Town Hall.  One item on the agenda is likely to draw a larger than usual audience and that is the application to convert the existing convenience store at the gas station on Halls Rd. into a Dunkin’ Donuts occupying the current space and extending into the, “… space currently occupied by the three automobile repair bays” with, “… also a food take-out use.”

Last month’s meeting was cancelled due to the blizzard, which had just been experienced, but at the January meeting when the proposal was first introduced, around 17 residents attended the meeting to object to the plan.  Representatives from Dunkin’ Donuts gave data and a traffic analysis in support of the proposal.

The hearing will be continued this evening as the first item on the agenda and then likely closed to the public.  The Commission will then probably discuss the matter based on all the information and opinions that have been presented.

We have received the op-ed printed below from Michael Perks, a member of the newly formed Mentoring Corps for Community Development (MCCD), which is objecting the Dunkin’ Donuts plan.  Some of the projects that MCCD is currently involved with, according to Perks, are,  “the Lyme-Old Lyme High School as a resource for student career mentoring, assisting local  residents affected by Hurricane Sandy, working with a proposed theatrical company start-up and reviewing a proposed long term project to transform Halls Road into “The Avenue to the Arts” through landscaping, lighting, walkways etc.”  

Op-Ed by Michael Perks, a member of MCCCD

 We believe that the addition of a Duncan Donut’s on Halls Road brings with it the issues described below and would be a detriment to the community.
The major objections to a “Dunkin Donut” convenience store located at the Shell Gas Station on Halls Road have to do with traffic flows, the incidence of increased crime near fast food locations and the fact that obesity has become a national problem.
As currently described, the proposed convenience store/gas station with a “Dunkin Donuts” will create a commodity convenience, which will not add to the currently available services located on Halls Road and will irreparably harm several local business owned and managed by local entrepreneurs.
A website www.i95exitguide.com/food/connecticut.php that shows the location of easily accessible restaurants along the Connecticut portion of I-95 currently only indicates the Old Lyme Inn.  Adding a Dunkin Donuts would increase traffic flow congestion along Hall’s Road benefiting principally Dunkin Donuts and the Shell gas station associated with it.
Congestion would build at both the off-ramps and on-ramps.  It has been shown that crime rates increase around fast-food restaurants, particularly those located close to easy off and easy on-ramps to major highways.
Old Lyme is a gem.  It is noted principally for its association with the visual arts.  The Florence Griswold Museum, the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and the Lyme Art Association have national reputations.  Lyme Street is beautiful, tree lined with well-groomed, older homes and probably the prettiest church in New England at one end.  The hills of Lyme with their narrow, twisting roads, the Connecticut River (a largely protected reserve) that provides its western boundary and the shore area along Long Island Sound combine to give the village a unique scenic quality.
Yet, the first view one has when exiting off I-95 from either direction is of Hall’s Road, which has been commercially developed in a haphazard, potpourri fashion, without regard to the arts for which the town is known.
Permitting another nationally branded store – there already is a Subway in the shopping center – would only make more difficult the ultimate goal of an Avenue of the Arts, a construction that would benefit all residents, as it would improve the desirability of the town.
Please join us at Old Lyme Town Hall, Monday, March 11 at 7:30 pm.  Old Lyme has thrived with local merchants for many years, we need support.

Linares Updates Shoreline Business Leaders

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State Senator Art Linares

State Senator Art Linares

Sen. Art Linares (R- Westbrook) provided a legislative update to area business leaders Feb. 26 during the Westbrook Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast meeting at Water’s Edge Resort and Spa.

Sen. Linares discussed his efforts to push pro-business policies at the State Capitol, such as eliminating the state’s business entity tax and putting an end to wasteful state spending.  Sen. Linares also stressed the importance of preserving and growing area manufacturing jobs.

He said he will be encouraging area high school and vocational-technical students to consider a transition to a manufacturing career as they plan their post-graduation futures.

Welcome to the New LymeLine!

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We are delighted to introduce a new format for LymeLine today.  As you become used to it, we hope you will find many improvements over our previous version, but please bear with us as we complete the transition and add more articles, columns and items to our editorial content and events to our new calendar.

This is our decade year and we are very proud to be one of the oldest, continuously published online community newspapers in the country.  We will be hosting a community celebration of that milestone later in the year.

Please let us know your thoughts on our new look and thank you for being such loyal readers for, in many cases, 10 years!