By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Ocean City’s parking fees will be going up this summer at the meters and the municipal lots.
Voting 7-0, City Council approved an ordinance Thursday night to raise parking fees for the first time since 2015.
At the parking lots, the city will now have the ability to charge up to $25 per day during peak times in the summer tourism season. Currently, the maximum daily parking fee is capped at $20 for the lots.
The city is also raising the charge for parking meters in the Boardwalk and beach zones from $1.50 per hour to $2 per hour.
Parking meters in the downtown zone will go from 25 cents per hour to 50 cents per hour.
In addition, the ordinance includes a provision to keep parking meters in operation year-round on the Asbury Avenue corridor between Sixth Street and 14th Street. In years past, the downtown meters operated from May to October.
However, the Council members said they are willing to revisit the proposal for year-round meters on Asbury Avenue well before October following concerns that were raised Thursday by local business owners.
Under the new ordinance, the downtown meters on Asbury Avenue, between Sixth and 14th streets, would be in operation from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from May to October and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the fall, winter and spring months.
Meters in other parts of Ocean City will be turned off after October, in keeping with the usual schedule for parking fees only between May and October.
The Downtown Merchants Association, a group representing local business owners, came up with the idea of having the parking meters on Asbury Avenue remain in operation year-round. Council agreed to incorporate the proposal in the parking ordinance at the suggestion of the downtown merchants.
Originally, representatives of the Downtown Merchants Association told Council in March that higher rates at the downtown meters would help to create more parking spots for shoppers. As it stands now, the inexpensive downtown parking rates encourage retail workers, residents and non-shoppers to grab the spots, they said.
Store owners also said at a Council meeting in March that higher meter rates would discourage non-shoppers from monopolizing the downtown parking spots.
However, Danielle Guerriero, president of the Downtown Merchants Association, and other business owners appeared at Thursday night’s Council meeting to ask the governing body to delay approving the parking ordinance for two weeks.
Guerriero said the increase in parking fees is expected to be a major issue during the Downtown Merchants Association’s election next Tuesday. Guerriero is running for re-election as president, but will be challenged for the top position by Caitlin Quirk, who currently serves as vice president, Guerriero said.
In remarks to Council, Guerriero said the merchants association wants more time to discuss the higher parking fees and the proposal for year-round meters with local business owners to address any concerns they may have about the proposal.
Council, though, voted on the parking ordinance anyway. At the same time, the Council members promised that they would reconsider the proposal for year-round parking meters downtown well before October if that’s what the Downtown Merchants Association wants.
Council said it will get feedback from the business owners and make changes with the parking ordinance before October if everyone agrees.
“I think we can resolve it for the October meters,” Councilman Tony Polcini said.
Mayor Jay Gillian told Council and representatives of the business community that the proposal for year-round meters on Asbury Avenue is “not locked in steel.”
“It’s a good dialogue tonight, but we’ll fix it,” Gillian said of the possibility of amending the parking ordinance later on based on suggestions from downtown merchants.
In an interview after the meeting, Guerriero said she is satisfied that Council will revisit the proposal for year-round meters later on.
Some business owners told Council that they want to see better enforcement of the parking laws downtown to prevent non-shoppers from hogging the parking spots. Others said the city must be careful not to be too heavy-handed with its enforcement policies.
Another business owner said he is worried that shoppers will think they are getting “screwed” with having to pay for higher parking fees and the possibility of year-round meters.
Paula Popilock, owner of The Road hemp shop on Asbury Avenue, said she believes the parking ordinance needs a little more discussion.
“I think there’s definitely a way to figure it out,” Popilock said.
Councilwoman Karen Bergman said the downtown shopping district is flourishing. Bergman and other Council members stressed that the city wants to collaborate with the business community to find ways to increase the amount of parking spots for shoppers.
Gillian noted that the city is studying the possibility of building a parking garage somewhere in town. He also said that the city continues to talk to local banks and other businesses that have ample parking spaces about opening up their spots to the public.
“We’ll do anything to help out,” Gillian said.
During a presentation on the budget in March, Ocean City’s chief financial officer Frank Donato told the Council members that the higher parking fees will generate an additional $500,000 in annual revenue for the proposed 2023 municipal budget. He said this would be the first time Ocean City has increased parking fees since 2015.
