Huntington to use license plate readers this beach season

The Town of Huntington will use license plate reading devices to scan vehicles at town beaches this summer, doing away with the previous sticker system.

In mid-February, town officials will launch an online portal for residents to register their vehicle's license plate number, which will be scanned by public safety staff to show residency when visiting a town beach.

A license reading device affixed to a town public safety vehicle will patrol beach parking lots for violators, town officials said.

Supervisor Ed Smyth said by getting rid of the sticker system, the town will save approximately $165,000 through cuts in spending on printing and materials, IT support and in summer salaries for such jobs as booth attendants. He said the new process also creates a more efficient system for entering the beach and saves residents a trip to town hall to pick up a sticker.

Smyth said residents who do not have computer access or are not comfortable using a computer will get support.

“Multiple dates and multiple locations will be set up prior to the season in order to assist those people in the permit process,” Smyth said.

Smyth said since May the town’s public safety department has been using a license plate reading system for patrolling municipal commuter parking lots.

Once registered, if a resident’s license plate number does not change or they have not changed their address, they only must pay the annual fee each year.

Seniors and veterans will only have to sign up once since they do not have to pay to go to town beaches. The town has nine beaches. Gold Star Battalion Beach will not be included in the license plate reading system, town officials said.

A seasonal beach pass, available only to town residents, is $40.

Halesite resident Ellie D’Amico, 74, said she supports the plan but admits she has reservations.

“Who has access to all those license plates?” she said. “I think there are privacy concerns that might outweigh the minor inconveniences of the previous system.”

Daniel Schwarz, senior privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in an email that replacing stickers with automated monitoring tools that track every beachgoer’s movements normalizes invasive surveillance “and raises critical questions about what regulations will be implemented to protect people’s most personal information from potential misuse or exploitation."

Joe Cirigliano, director of public safety, said license information is already on file.