MAHOPAC – For decades, parking in downtown Mahopac has posed a great concern for merchants as well as shoppers.
This will change in the not-too-distant future once a new 90-vehicle municipal parking lot is constructed on an acre of land currently used as parking for the Mahopac National Bank along Route 6N.
The property that also formerly housed the Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce headquarters will be purchased by the Town of Carmel for $395,000 after town board members approved a resolution to acquire the property at its meeting last week.
Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt said negotiations between the bank and the town had been ongoing for two years: “Parking has always been an issue in the hamlet of Mahopac. Now we will create not only a modern parking facility but a beautiful passive town park – Swan Cove – the town purchased.”
The former chamber of commerce building will be torn down later this month while the Swan Cove property that once contained five cottages was razed last summer.
Councilman Michael Barile thanked the bank for its patience. “They were extremely professional and we appreciate everything they have done for the residents of our town.”
Barile also commended the bank for contributing $50,000 to cover the cost of landscaping the new lot.
Members of the town board also met with representatives of the State Department of Transportation and were advised that traffic signals will be changed along with turning lanes installed both into and out of the new parking lot in addition to the construction of a new sidewalk.
