Updated: Community Rally Scheduled to Fight Twilight Parking Fees

UPDATED: The fees have been reversed.  Click here to read more.

Saying that newly instituted at and Beaches is too much for residents to bare, a group of residents rallying around a Facebook group formed to shoot down the fee are hosting a community rally on July 9 at 6:15 at the Smith Point Marina in Shirley.

The group - "Heck No the Twilight Fee must GO!" - was created on June 28, and as of Friday evening, had almost 400 people signed up to attend. 

The rally is aimed at procuring support to a piece of legislation - co-sponsored by Suffolk County Legislators Jay Schneiderman, I-Montauk, and Kate Browning, WF-Patchogue, submitted on Friday that calls for the immediate repeal of the $4 twilight fee, which is charged between the hours of 5 p.m. at 8 p.m. at the two county beaches.

The legislation was submitted after the legislators sent a letter to the County Executive Steve Bellone urging him to quash the parking fee.

Legislator Schneiderman says the fee is an undue burden on residents and has already caused at least a 100 car loads of people to turn away from the beaches after learning about the fee.

Kathy Goetschius, one of the event's founders, wrote the following: "Please note that this event was put together to fight the 'twilight' fee. The Twilight fee was wrongly applied to only 2 beaches and not the others. The raise in green key fees and day beach fees are done for all parks and beaches. This has been only geared toward our community. In order to fight the other fees you would have to involve all of Suffolk county. Again this protest is for the removal of the 'twilight' fee only."

One resident , which has garnered over 1,000 signatures in support of repealing the twilight fee and Legislator Schneiderman says some 300 residents have already said that they plan to attend Monday night's rally. 

The Twilight fee was instituted last month in an effort to garner additional funding for the parks department to cover costs of maintenance, park police and lifeguards.  

The county expects to raise $90,000 in fees from the twilight fees.

Will you attend the rally? Do you support a repeal of the twilight fee?  Post  your thoughts in the comment section below.