After more than six months of free parking on all Ocean City streets and in all municipal parking lots, Ocean City residents and visitors issued a collective groan on Friday morning as parking meters were installed and activated.
The search for quarters is on.
May 1 marks the start of the season for parking fees, which will stretch through Oct. 31. Not all meter heads had been installed and activated as of Friday, but the process has begun.
Parking is big business in Ocean City, and the municipality expects to collect about $2.8 million in revenue from meters and municipal parking lot fees this year.
Ocean City replaced 800 traditional meters two years ago with new meters that accept credit cards. The new meters were placed on most streets close to the Ocean City Boardwalk, on the north-end beachfront along Beach Road and E. Atlantic Boulevard and on the far south end along Central Avenue and 59th Street. The program also included parking lots near the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, across from Ocean City High School, and at 14th and 59th streets.
The fees for the new credit-card meters are 25 cents per 10 minutes (or $1.50 per hour). Meters in the downtown shopping district remain at 25 cents per hour. Fees for municipal parking lots vary depending on time and location.
For the Spring Block Party on Saturday (May 2), there will be free parking on all streets and city parking lots between Bay Avenue and Wesley Avenue. Meters will be in operation on streets beyond Wesley to the Boardwalk. See: Guide to Spring Block Party 2015 in Ocean City.
May 1 and Oct. 31 are the “outer limits” of the parking season, Ocean City Finance Director Frank Donato said in the fall. Municipal lot fees and parking meters are generally enforced from Block Party to Block Party. Ocean City’s Spring Block Party is typically held on the first Saturday in May, and the fall event on Columbus Day Weekend.
