Parks & Rec Beach Report: 67,000+ Beach Stickers for 20,000 Greenwich Drivers

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At this week’s Parks & Recreation Board meeting at Innis Arden Cottage, Director Joe Siciliano gave an update on Greenwich beach passes and vehicle stickers, describing the opening both at Greenwich Point and Byram as successful, with both the pool and beaches opening on time.

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Sunset from the back of the Island Beach ferry boat. Credit: Leslie Yager

The next task, Siciliano said, is to get the ferry boats ready and get both islands open for the second Saturday in June. We have a playground we purchased that has to be installed at Island Beach. That was part of last year’s project we didn’t get to,” he said.

67,000+ Beach Stickers for 20,000 Town Drivers
Siciliano said that 67,189 vehicle stickers were issued for beach parking. “If you wanted to know how many cars are taxed in Greenwich, that’s the number: 67,189 cars for probably 20,000 people who can drive,” he added, to a round of laughter.

Parks & Rec Director Siciliano said that about 46,000 annual beach card renewal applications were sent to individuals. We have processed 26,200 of them were processed as of last Sunday, May 26 and 33% of renewals were online. The Parks & Rec Director reported that 45 % of renewals were via credit card.

As of May 26, a total of 1,279 parking passes were sold for the month of May. We’ve sold 200 day passes.

Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 8.30.41 AM Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 8.29.26 AM  Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 8.28.51 AM“We generated $645,000 in revenue so far,” the director said.

Siciliano said that the online renewal system has caught on with residents. This is the first year residents could pay by credit card.

Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 10.00.54 AMThere was a bit of a crowd at Town Hall the week before Memorial Day. “It was chaos in Town Hall,” Siciliano said. “It’ll slow up a bit the week before the boats open, and start up again the week before 4th of July,” he said.

Siciliano said that applications for beach card renewals were mailed out in February, but that residents’ motivation increases when the first 70° day arrives. The Parks & Rec director said the beach card program tends to slow down after 4th of July, but that he expected the Town will issue about another 20,000 beach cards between the week after Memorial Day and 4th of July.

Related Stories:

Parks & Rec: Greenwich Pt Beach Concession Re-Build Is in the Works

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