The map would be interactive and show visitors how many open spots there are available. (Image courtesy of Ocean City)
By MADDY VITALE and DONALD WITTKOWSKI
What’s the usual way motorists find parking during the busy summer tourism season in Ocean City?
They drive around town searching for spots, sometimes in vain.
But this summer, Ocean City is taking a major step to end the hassles of finding spots with a new feature designed to make it easier to find parking.
During Mayor Jay Gillian’s State of the City address on Thursday night, he explained how useful the new feature will be to residents and tourists.
“One new initiative that the city will launch this year will help motorists find parking spots during the busy summer tourism season,” he explained.
Called “Always a Spot,” the program will let drivers know where to park and how many spaces are available.
“The city will invest in technology to alert motorists in real time on how many parking spots are available in the municipal lots,” Gillian noted.
An image of an interactive parking lot map. (Image courtesy of Ocean City)
Ocean City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen gave some specifics about the new technology in an email Monday.
“The system would include sensors at each parking space in a municipal lot that would communicate with electronic signage. This would be similar to the systems you often see at airport parking lots or other commercial parking decks,” Bergen pointed out. “The city team is doing its due diligence and hopes to have something in place before summer, but at this point, there is no firm schedule.”
While many people who visit or live in Ocean City can agree that parking is at a premium, especially at the height of the summer season, some city officials have been very vocal about the need to improve parking.
City Councilman Jody Levchuk has been at the forefront of the push to create more parking. He posed the idea of building a parking garage. A parking committee was formed and a study was conducted into what should and could be done to give people more parking in the downtown and Boardwalk.
“I agree with the mayor that there needs to be better parking. The city hasn’t done enough over the years to create more parking for our tourists,” said Levchuk, who is co-owner of the Jilly's shops downtown and on the Boardwalk.
Levchuk said a grassroots effort has been underway to drum up ideas for better parking solutions.
“The goal is to have a grassroots effort to better organize our parking plan through brochures, advertisements, signage on the parking lots and the new technology,” he said.
Levchuk said that the city's parking study and a survey he conducted showed the need for more parking spaces. A parking garage, he said, would be centrally located to shopping and a great addition to the city and offer convenience for shoppers.
However, he agreed with the mayor that there are other capital projects that take precedence at this time. But that is not to say that the parking garage is off the table, he added.
Meanwhile, the city's successful jitney service continues to fill a need and alleviates parking woes, Levchuk said.
“We are all on the same page. We all want the jitney service and believe it is a great service,” he said. “There are a lot of elderly people in town and we have to consider them. And we have as many grandparents who visit Ocean City as we do grandchildren. Convenient parking and jitney service are important for these folks and for everyone for that matter.”
Public parking is always at a premium in the summer season, such as this lot at Fifth and Sixth streets.
