LI Grandmother Battling With Town Of Babylon Over Parking Sticker

BABYLON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A Long Island grandmother is taking on town rules after being denied a parks and recreation sticker to be able to take her granddaughters to their area parks.

As CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan reported, Susan Greenspan lives in Seaford but babysits for her young granddaughters at their Babylon home.

One-year-old Jocelyn and four-year-old Alexis love going to nearby parks, particularly those with pools and water, Greenspan said.

In preparation for a summer of caregiving, Greenspan applied for a town recreation sticker and said she was shocked to be turned down by the parks commissioner.

"My daughter and son-in-law pay taxes to the Town of Babylon and you're denying their children the right to use the parks because they work to maintain those parks," she told McLogan of her conversation with the parks commissioner.

According to town code, Greenspan's car must be registered to a town address to obtain a sticker to park.

She argued the children's residency - not hers - should be the determining factor.

But she was told she could pay a daily $15 entrance fee or go to a park in the town where she lives.

Many of the parks that sit along the shore in Babylon are filled to capacity in the summer, McLogan reported.

Hundreds of town residents with stickers are turned away and transferring a permit from one car to another isn't allowed due to past abuses of the system.

"We do allow our residents to switch cars. If an out-of-town resident wants to use a registered car here, that's no problem. It's not tied to the name of the resident, it's tied to the car. In addition, only about a handful - 5 or 6 - of our parks require permits," Town of Babylon spokesman Kevin Bonner told McLogan.

"I said to this parks commissioner, believe me, it's not me that's gonna be going down the slide at the water park," Greenspan told McLogan.

Greenspan said she wants the town to allow some wiggle room for non-resident caregivers who are in charge of the very young, the elderly or disabled who live in Babylon, pay taxes and want to enjoy their parks.

Greenspan said she doesn't feel comfortable behind the wheel of a car that isn't hers and added her daughter and son-in-law need their car when she babysits.

She said she plans to fight for changes to the current town code.

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