Board aims to ease waterfront conflicts
RHINEBECK, N.Y. » The Town Board has approved a plan to stripe parking slots and improve signage at the Rhinecliff waterfront minipark to ease conflicts between visitors and boat owners seeking to use the park’s boat launch.
At a board meeting Monday, officials said motorists are still parking in a small area that has signs marked to prohibit parking from April 1 through Oct. 15.
“We have complaints about people there in the summer time,” town Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said. “We have it posted that there’s no parking there, and it’s in our Vehicle and Traffic Law. The police have gone down to ticket (motorists) . ... People leave their cars there and go down to the picnic (area) and it causes confusion.”
Among problems is the parking spaces are in a turning area needed by motorists with boat trailers.
“The reason this has come up is because of confrontations between people trying to put their boats in the water and people ... down there either sitting in their cars looking at the river or they get out of their cars and are sitting at the park benches there or they go down to the gazebo,” police Sgt. Peter Dunn said.
Officials said that while there are signs, the lack of pavement markings makes it unclear what spaces are affected by the parking prohibition.
“Six to seven cars could ... park there,” Dunn said. “You only have three signs, so currently ... people go and park between the signs. So you could put a sign in each one of those legitimate parking spots.”
Parking is allowed along about 400 feet of Dutchess Terrace that connects the launch area to the railroad overpass. Those are marked as prohibiting “commuters,” but no other limits are cited on the signs.
On Monday, Dunn said, a person who was found asleep in his van was ticketed.
“He had taken his lunch break and fallen asleep,” he said.