It takes a village — to find a parking space.
Southampton is eyeing a first-of-its kind scheme to bring valet parking to the entire village in order to curb the crush of summertime traffic.
“It would be a nice service, I know it’s worked successfully in other resort areas,” Mayor Mark Epley told The Post. “We’re exploring every opportunity that we can to manage vehicles.”
Drivers who motor into town on the glamorous but notoriously congested quarter-mile Main Street would fork over their keys at Monument Square, the suggested pick-up/drop-off spot according to the plan, which was hatched last week at a village board meeting by two locals who aim to run the service.
Southampton Village officials said they’ll reach out to those with extra parking — such as the local high school, which is two miles away and has 200 spaces — to coax them into lending their spare spots to accommodate those who flock to the village to rub elbows with the likes of Howard Stern and George Soros, or score that perfect $3,000 Valentino bag at Intermix.
And the proposal could be on the fast track to implementation, The Post has learned. “That’s the goal — to get it going this summer,” Epley said.
The village could vote on the measure at its June 12 board meeting — and all signs are pointing to “yay.”
“The more I thought about it, the more I thought this is could be a really good thing for our community,” village trustee Nancy McGann said. “Last summer was almost impossible because people were parking in parking spots that weren’t parking spots.”
“I’m all for it. I think it will invite more people here,” she told The Post.
Pricing and fees have not yet been finalized, and an outside vendor would run the service.
Valet service is already the norm at five-star restaurants and exclusive Hamptons parties — even Southampton Hospital has it — but if the village presses ahead, it will be the first government-run valet service on the East End. Huntington, LI, has a free valet-service pilot program that will kick start next month.
The proposal comes as the prospect of having neighbors like Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian — who will be summering in Southampton and opening a store there — brings fear of even more congestion.